The World of an Amazon
by Coldbee
Summary: Batman deals with mortality issues while Wonder Woman's Gods gather to decide if he truly deserves her love or not BMWW.
1. Negotiations

**The World of an Amazon**

**Summary: **Batman deals with mortality issues while Wonder Woman's Gods gather to decide if he truly deserves her love or not. AU BBWW.

**A/N: **This is my first story. I hope you all enjoy it. Please review!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything, please don't sue.

* * *

><p><strong>Negotiations <strong>

"_Feels like three bruised ribs on the left side, possible hairline fracture somewhere on the tibia, and a slight concussion from the blow to the head… pathetic…_" Batman thought to himself as he was driving the batmobile back to the cave with robin sitting unscratched from the battle that just occurred a few moments ago.

"_There were twenty of them, I had ten, Robin had ten. It was a normal drug busting routine that I do in my sleep. Throw three bat-a-rangs to knock out the three gunners, jump the one with the 2x4 in the middle, batclaw the three by the table in the far end, jump over the first to charge at me and kick the second in the face…. Break his nose… avoid the last guy's attempt to hit me with the 2x4 and take him out while finally interrogating the last one I jumped over… so simple… but how… HOW… did I allow that punk to hit me in the back of the head with the 2x4? Then have the other immediately take a swing at my ribs to stun me long enough to give his partner enough time for a second hit on the leg with the 2x4?_"

"_I knew the shot to the ribs was coming… why couldn't…DIDN'T I react quick enough? Getting sloppy… I must train harder… unacceptable._"

As the batmobile pulled into the batcave, Bruce saw Alfred, in his medical apron ready to tend to his master's injuries, and her… floating two inches off the floor with her arms crossed over her chest wearing a thick cotton sweater, sweat pants, and flats. Beautiful… just beautiful, no matter what she wears or how she wears it, she still is a sight to behold. But tonight, her face was red with anger with a glare that would rival his… not that she could ever match his, but the fact that she had the power to break anyone she wanted to in half made her glare that much closer.

As the car stopped, Bruce slowly got out and walked toward the computer knowing he was going the get an earful from the beautiful Amazon. "You stupid, hard-headed, stubborn, idiotic man! How dare you go out in your condition! You are supposed to be recovering! Damn it Bruce!"

Bruce was still recovering from two broken ribs, a shrapnel wound that went through his right shoulder, and a very deep slash on his left thigh. All of which came from the battle with Ra's and his men just three days ago. Then there were the injuries that he had consistently acquired over the past four months that have yet to fully heal as well. But since there were so many, his body just looked like one giant bruise with deep gashes sprinkled all over.

"I'm fine" Bruce muttered as he flipped off his cowl and walked past her to sit down and analyze recent criminal activities throughout Gotham.

Diana furiously turned to Tim with a disgusted look on her face. "How could you let him go on patrol in his condition? Why didn't you stop him? You know he needs to rest! What were you thinking?"

Tim shrugged his shoulders and headed towards the stairs back up to the mansion. "I don't cross the boss." Diana continued to glare at him until he left the cave before turning her attention to the man in the chair.

Diana grabbed Bruce by the collar, pulled him up off his chair until he was a few inches off the floor. "Prove it!" Bruce thought about it, but the fatigue from battle combined with the pain throughout his body made any fight with her a pointless and losing one. Still holding him by the collar, Diana floated towards the medical table. Finally breaking from the intense glaring contest between the two, she slammed him on the table, a little harder than she meant to, but she felt he deserved it none the less.

Bruce grunted at the impact while Alfred began working on his injuries. After the last bandage was placed on him, Bruce excused Alfred from the cave as lifted himself off the table. He began walking to the computer when Diana placed her hand firmly on his chest. "You're going to bed Bruce."

"I need to work Princess…" Bruce said in a low flat tone. She glared at him as he walked gingerly to his chair and sat down facing the screen with the intent of not letting him get away with this that easily.

Knowing the negotiations had begun, Bruce calculated that he only had enough energy to stay conscious – or stay awake for that matter – for roughly one hour due to the combination of the pain killers and severe fatigue that were circulating throughout his body. Not wanting to waste any more energy on something other than his work while sensing that Diana was starting to lose her patience, Bruce broke the silence. "Two hours"

This was a perfect opportunity to corner him into getting what she wanted. Diana always seemed to capitalize on her opportunities with him as she firmly stated "NOW or have me go on patrol with you when I LET you go back on patrol in two weeks."

"_Damn… wasn't expecting that…I need to be careful before she starts trying to manipulating me…_" Bruce thought to himself, Diana had been on his case about patrolling with him for the longest time. "One hour and I'll let you patrol with Tim and Barbra tomorrow while I stay and continue my work."

Diana smirked. "Deal, but you are still not leaving the house for two weeks." Bruce glared at her for a second and went back to work. "One hour Bruce, that's all you get or I'll knock you out myself." Bruce smirked to himself and grunted softly indicating he agreed with Diana's ultimatum. She slowly flew up towards the mansion smiling as she let him work while getting what she wanted – to fight alongside Batman in his city… their city… Gotham.


	2. Lucky Reminiscence

**Lucky Reminiscence**

Leaning against the railing of the balcony outside the master bedroom, Diana felt the cool breeze against her face. "_What an interesting three and half years it's been._" she thought to herself. She remembered how they first met during the alien invasion and formed The Justice League, and when she first kissed him after he tried to dig her out from under the missile that fell on her. Of course at that time it didn't really mean much, but it did start a year's worth of frequent flirtation between the two. She started to understand him as they became closer from all the missions they shared together, like the one in Kasnia… that dance… his handsome face…

Diana chuckled to herself, remembering all the times she tried get him to pursue a relationship with her, only to have him flat out reject her even though he felt the same while simultaneously still leaving a window of hope. Here is this man… yes a man… whom drove her crazy time and time again. She is the Princess of the Amazons, she wasn't supposed to need or want any man and yet, Diana wanted him, and she somehow let this man torment her heart to the point where she wanted to bash his head in. The thought of the incident with Circe came to mind, him giving his idiotic reasons of why they couldn't date (dating within the team always leads to disaster, her being an immortal warrior and him being a rich kid with issues, and his stubbornness about believing his enemies would get to him by hurting her) but then he goes and gives up his dignity and pride to sing to Circe for her safety.

When the watch tower was destroyed during the Thanagarian invasion, he opened his home to her. Her staying at the mansion was the first really big step in getting to know Bruce as Bruce, not Batman or Bruce Wayne the playboy billionaire and entrepreneur extraordinaire. Diana got to know the man underneath both masks. She started to learn how to read Bruce as he was never good with words or expressing his emotions. The unspoken communication between them allowed him to communicate with her without actually saying what he wanted or needed to say. Of course the chemistry between them was still growing, as she could only understand him when he wasn't heavily brooding. But it did show that he liked having her around, and that was progress none the less. Eventually she would be able to know and understand everything about Bruce, but until then, she would continue to study him – he is after all, her favorite subject.

She started training with him soon after moving in, learning as much of his techniques as possible while sparring with him. She quickly befriended the batclan, working well with both Tim and Barbra. Of course Alfred was the easiest to talk to, as she would spend hours on end talking to him about what exactly goes through Bruce's head. Dick on the other hand, was never really around much, but they would talk and get along well when he was there. There must have been something between both Bruce and Dick that made them so distant, but every time she would ask any of the members, Alfred included, they all said the same thing… "Things change" She figured it wasn't worth prying into since both Batman and Nightwing still helped each other out every now and then.

After the disappearance of Darkseid and Luthor due to whatever the anti-life equation was six months ago, life has been great. Well…. more specifically, the first two months after that victorious day. It was during that time that Diana knew Bruce better than anyone except for Alfred and his protégés. It was also then that Diana had cornered him into admitting that his idiotic reasons for not pursuing a relationship with her were pathetically flawed. They were constantly flirting and practically living together as if they already were dating. (She had to thank her own stubbornness for getting as close to him as possible when he did nothing but resist her advances.) Diana got to know him so well that she was one of the few who actually understood his 'issues'. Yes he was inevitably going to die, but she was going to be with him for the rest of his life whether he liked it or not. And finally, Diana had the power to break any of his enemies in half… she is Wonder Woman after all. Having lost this argument, Bruce finally gave in and agreed to have a real relationship with her. Not long after, Bruce told Diana for the first time that he loved her and later allowed them to make their relationship known within the league. Of course it felt somewhat weird at first when Flash kept making jokes about the new couple. He constantly grilled Batman about it every chance he got.

The founding members and the few who actually knew about it were happy for them as most of them kept saying "It's about time!" The other leaguers who didn't know them that well (particularly not knowing Batman well) were shocked about the news. They didn't believe that Batman was boyfriend material, but she couldn't blame them for thinking of him like that because he is Batman after all… he wasn't social, only talked when it was absolutely necessary, brooding whenever possible, always preferring to do things on his own, and of course the feared batglare always kept everyone from approaching him. Everyone asked how he could possibly make her happy in a relationship. Diana gave them her reasons, which were plausible enough to get them to see why she loved him. But she never told them the real reason why she loved him because they didn't see what she saw in him – the Bruce underneath the masks, her Bruce. Nobody saw that side of Bruce because he never allowed anyone to see him that way. Only Nightwing, Robin, Batgirl, Alfred and a few others were allowed to know him for who he really was.

It was the rare occasions when Bruce did open up and share his feelings and emotions with her that made her the happiest. Bruce made Diana feel special like no one else could because she was the only one who he would actually tell his deepest secrets to. He wouldn't even talk to about them to his protégés or Alfred, the only reason they knew about his secrets was because they witnessed them take place. He was also very romantic when he wanted to be as he swept her off her feet countless times. But she had to keep the information about their most romantic dates in the smallest of circles because if everyone knew that Batman had a sappy romantic side to him, his reputation of being cold and dark would be ruined. Bruce even created a secret identity for her, 'Diana Prince' so that she could also date Bruce Wayne in public and he could stop going to social parties with brainless shallow super models. She wasn't wild about having a secret identity but after realizing that he would stop flirting with those bimbos, she agreed to take on the identity of Diana Prince.

But these past four months – especially these past two weeks – Bruce has been… different… his time spent with the league was scarce, even for him. He has been training a lot more, with more intensity than ever and seemed to be obsessed with his missions in Gotham more so than usual… if anyone could believe that. The time they spent together obviously decreased as well, with him brooding more and her Justice League and Ambassador schedules taking up most of her time. Watching him come back night after night with more injuries didn't help the situation either, but now that she was about to patrol with him, she could help take down the criminals and save him from some unnecessary injuries… After thinking about it, it seemed he gave in to her demands too easily… she was pestering him forever about it, but still… it shouldn't have been that easy. Diana didn't know if she was over thinking the situation, but when it comes to him… anything's a possibility.

"Something is different with him… and I'm going to find out what it is." Diana told herself. As she walked back into the bedroom, she looked at the clock on the wall, 4:37am. "Great… I gave him an extra half an hour… I don't care what he says, he's going to bed NOW!" Diana flew down to the batcave expecting to see Bruce strenuously working like he always does, but she stopped right next to him with a smile on her face. Diana hovered above the floor for a few minutes watching him slumped over with his head on the keyboard sleeping. She gently picked him up and flew back to the mansion and into their bedroom. She carefully took off his suit and looked over his partially naked body. His body was basically a giant bruise with flesh wounds and scars scattered all over.

It pained her horribly to see the man she loved so battered and beaten as she wiped the tears that were trickling down her face. After regaining control over her emotions, she told herself that at least he was safe tonight under her watch and care. Diana changed into her nightgown, slipped under the covers, and gently cuddled up to him as her body fitted perfectly against his. With her right arm on his chest as her fingers gently tracing over his old scars, Diana kept thinking just how lucky she is for having Bruce in her life. It didn't matter that they were arguing a few hours ago. Just for now… in the calm silent night… the feelings of comfort and happiness from just having him in her arms made Diana easily drift off into a goodnight's sleep.


	3. A Friendly Visit

**A Friendly Visit**

5:43pm – Still feeling the effects of his wounds, Bruce woke up, gingerly washed up, made his way down to the cave, put on the bat suit, and continued his work. Alfred came down with a hot bowl of soup not knowing whether Bruce felt like eating breakfast or dinner, but assumed he wasn't going to eat anything anyways.

"I'm sure Miss Diana won't be please to see that Batman is preparing for another patrol after the agreement that was made with her last night."

"Where is she Alfred?" Bruce asked without taking his attention off the screen.

"I believe she is with Master Tim and Miss Barbra running errands at the moment, they are due back shortly."

Just then, the sound of a loud engine echoed throughout the cave as a man on a motorcycle pulled up next to the batmobile. The man shut of the engine and with a smirk, acknowledged the butler who was delighted to see a familiar face. "Good evening Master Dick, would you care for dinner? I'm sure you can have Master Bruce's since he never seems to eat it. One might think he's on a diet."

Hearing that, Bruce took the bowl of soup and gulped all of it down and wiped his mouth with the napkin on the tray. "It was delicious Alfred, thank you."

Nightwing laughed. "No thanks Alfred, I already ate. Just thought I'd stop by to see how the old man is doing." It had been a long time since Bruce and Dick last spoke to each other.

"Very good sir. If you both will excuse me, I shall prepare dinner for the three who will actually eat something in this house." Alfred took the tray and went up the stairs back into the mansion.

"I got the disks you wanted. I don't think how useful they will be though… the arriving shipments don't seem to have anything related to what you found so far." Dick popped the CD into the computer.

"There's always something… you just have to find it within the details Dick." Bruce began reading the information on the screen.

Diana, Tim, and Barbra came up to Alfred as he walked out of the secret entrance to the batcave. Diana let out a sigh of disappointment after seeing the empty bowl on the tray that Alfred was holding. Not that she expected anything different to happen once Bruce woke up. "Hello Miss Diana, Miss Barbra, Master Tim. Master Bruce and Master Dick are down below. Will any of you be requiring dinner tonight?"

Tim spoke up first. "No thanks Alfred we ate before we came home."

"Very well, if anyone should require my services I'll be in the study." With a sigh, Alfred walked off towards the kitchen.

Both Tim and Barbra grinned at each other as they simultaneously whispered "Spy time!"

"Are you sure about this…" Diana said hesitantly. It wasn't that she didn't like to sneak around, but she could never sneak up on Bruce. He always seemed to know where she was no matter how far away she was when following him on his patrols.

"But sneaking around is half the fun, besides… what's the worst he can do? Glare at us?" Tim said quietly as they got within hearing distance of the Dark Knight and Nightwing.

"But who do you think is controlling it all?" Nightwing asked with a perplexed look on his face.

"I have my theories…" Batman said in a low toned voice knowing that there were three extra pairs of ears in the cave listening to them.

"and…" Nightwing rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"I'll let you know when I know I find out." Batman stated sharply.

"Figures…" Nightwing grumbled. Seeing that he wasn't going to get more information than that on this particular subject, he decided to push Bruce's buttons on another. "So rumor has it that you're seriously considering settling down with Wonder Woman and actually pop the question…"

At the sound of that, Diana's eyes widened as she took a big gulp and blushed while Barbra had a giant grin across her face knowing this conversation was about to get very interesting... Excitement and pure joy flooded Diana's head as she pictured their wedding. She didn't think that Bruce was ready for such a giant step like that. But now that she found out that he was potentially considering it, a big fat grin appeared on her face. Trying to calm down, Diana reminded herself not to get too worked up over it because Bruce hasn't admitted he was planning to ask her yet.

"I take it by your silence that the rumors are true." Nightwing watched Batman clench his jaw down tightly while his white screened eyes narrowed slightly for an instant. Nightwing let out a small chuckle and continued. "Well honestly it's about time. I'm surprised that she can actually put up with your… charming… personality day in and day out." Batman glared at Nightwing as he continued. "Look I know it's probably none of my business, but because I know you… and knowing you… you'll probably chicken out. Just do yourself a favor and don't let the loner in you win. Besides, Wonder Woman is the best thing that's ever happened to you. From what I can tell, having her in your life brings the perfect balance between Bruce and Batman… Damn… I wish you had gotten with her when I was a kid… you would have been a hell of a lot easier to deal with. Not to mention seeing you smile once in a while would probably have helped."

It amazed Diana how Bruce let Dick talk to him like that. She had heard him talk to Bruce before, but the way he spoke before was nothing like this. Diana has never heard anyone talk to Batman in this manner before. She knew that she was the only one within The Justice League that got to talk to him differently. He didn't even allow Superman to talk to him differently. Lately Superman stopped trying to give Batman orders and just told her what he wanted Batman to do. Superman knew that if he were going to listen to anyone, it would be her. Alfred was the only other person Diana knew that could talk to Bruce without any hesitation. Robin and Batgirl couldn't talk to him differently... or maybe they could and she just never saw it? Maybe… But this was unreal. Nightwing was talking to him on a whole new level, blunt and straight to the point. Completely fearless. How was Nightwing able to do so while having Batman actually listen to him? She was going have to ask Dick at the first chance she got.

"Your right…" Batman growled to the surprise of everyone in the cave.

"I am?" Dick replied wanting to make sure he heard him correctly.

"Yes… it isn't any of your business." Batman said flatly.

Dick laughed sarcastically. "Damn… I walked in to that one. Fine…" he gave a big sigh as he looked up at the three spies who were hiding in the shadows. "You know you guys seriously need to work on your silent predator skills."

Diana's head dropped in disappointment. "_Damn it… how do they do that?_" She looked at Barbra who was rolling her eyes while Tim mumbled out "busted" The three of them came down from their hiding spot to greet Nightwing. Tim gave him a high five while Barbra came with a hug.

"I have never heard anyone talk to Batman like that, impressive… how can I do it?" Diana placed her fists on her hips while raising her eyebrow with a smirk on her face as Batman's head finally snap into their direction.

Nightwing leaned against the computer with a grin on his face as he turned to Diana. "What are you talking about? From what I hear, you're the one that can talk to him better than anyone… and can get him to do just about anything."

Diana quickly glanced over at Batman to see his reaction. Nothing… Nightwing winked at her. "So Diana… you and the old man huh? You must really love the brood and doom mood to put up with this guy."

"I'm going to hurl!" Robin motioned as if he were going to throw up. "I'd rather fight twenty goons than listen to this…ow!" Batgirl smacked Robin upside the head before he could finish.

"I would say you have no idea, but you know what it's like being around him." Diana smiled as she watched Batman glare at Nightwing for a second and then continue on with his work. It completely astonished her that Bruce didn't do anything. Had it been Flash, he would have thrown him through a wall.

Nightwing laughed as he looked at Batman then back towards her. "Like they say… opposites attract…"

Before the conversation could continue Batman growled while grinding his teeth. "Don't you three have a patrol to go on?"

"Finally!" Robin jumped and ran towards the batmobile. "I got dibs on driving!"

"Oh no you don't!" Batgirl went over to the car and pushed him out of the driver's seat.

"Three?" Nightwing scratched his head in confusion. Diana smiled. "I'm patrolling with Batgirl and Robin for two weeks before I LET him go back out there and patrol with ME!"

After seeing them drive off Nightwing gave a shocked look towards Batman before grinning. "Damn… you really do love her don't you? Talk about getting whipped…"

"Shut up" Batman growled and continued to analyze the information on the computer.

Laughing as he started to head to his motorcycle. "Yea… yea… it was good to see you too."

Batman's eyes suddenly widened. It was clear. It was right there the whole time. "TWO FACE"

"What?" Nightwing turned around confused.

Batman jumped out of the chair and ran towards the batboat. "Let's go NOW!"


	4. Heated Confrontations

A/N: Thanks for the reviews! It really means a lot. This chapter finally brings in some much needed action!

* * *

><p><strong>Heated Confrontations<strong>

"Umm… didn't Diana tell you to stay home?" Nightwing said, knowing that it was pointless to attempt to convince Batman to not go after Two Face as they sped towards the Gotham Harbor.

"We have exactly seventeen seconds to get there before the ship is scheduled to take off. He's been smuggling in chemicals by mixing them with natural gasoline oil. With the parts and pieces of machinery that were stolen in the past month, he could build machines to extract those chemicals and combine them to make a deadly gas compound, that if detonated in the atmosphere… would wipe out every living organism on the entire eastern shore of the United States."

"Oh… great… sounds like fun… want me to call in Barb, Tim and Diana to meet us there?" Nightwing was about to tap on his earpiece.

"No… I don't want… we can handle this ourselves. Besides since when do you ever call for backup?" Batman said as Nightwing looked over while rolling his eyes.

"I was just looking out for your well being, you know she's going to kill you for leaving the cave, and then kill you again for not telling her to help out right?" Nightwing smirked.

Batman didn't say anything as he continued to drive. "_Dick is right. She's going to be furious… but… no. I will be fine. I rested all day and have plenty of energy. I just have to be smart. Focused. Precise._"

The batboat stopped underneath the pier as both Batman and Nightwing made their way into the boat's loading haul. They counted twenty henchmen – five with automatic rifles standing in the middle – and Two Face barking out orders. "Be careful with those you idiots! They are highly explosive! You two… take those canisters and come with me. The rest of you guard these two crates… you all better be at the New York Harbor with those in tact!"

Hidden in the shadows, Batman whispered to Nightwing. "Maybe calling in backup is a good idea…" Batman enabled his earpiece. "Batgirl… Two Face is about to leave a cargo ship at Pier22 with two gunmen at the Gotham Harbor, what's your ETA?"

Nightwing could hear Batgirl's response with his own earpiece. "On it… ETA… one minute thirty-five seconds." Batman motions to Nightwing to get to the opposite end of the haul and wait for his signal. Batman signals as they both jump down towards the unaware henchmen. While in the air, Batman plans what he's going to do while memorizing everyone's location and executing his maneuvers flawlessly.

"_Three gunners at the center crate, three bat-a-rangs to their heads will take them down. Done, three down. Land on thug… batclaw three across the isle…they will get back up in eleven seconds… two thugs should be coming around the corner about know!_" One thug swings a baseball bat at Batman's head while the other came running with a crow bar. "_Duck… uppercut… broken jaw… he'll live… eight seconds… batclaw across the haul to get to the three getting up… kick the idiot with the crowbar in the throat… five down… two seconds… might as well use a smoke bomb for extra cover… wait… that smell…_ _GAS!_"

Batman's white lenses widened. "NIGHTWING GET OUT NOW!" Batman shouted as he simultaneously pulled out another batclaw and aimed towards the skylight. Instantly understanding what's happening, Nightwing fired his batclaw, flying towards the skylight as well. Nightwing blasted through the skylight as the ship exploded sending him tumbling into the air. Feeling the extreme amount of force that pushed him further away from the ship, Nightwing tucked in his legs into a 'cannonball' like dive while flipping over expecting to see Batman not far behind.

"NO!" Nightwing's eyes widened with horror as he saw Batman. His entire body covered in flames… he was caught in the explosion… Nightwing never took his eyes off of Batman as he was swimming towards the general area where he expected to see Batman land. It seemed as if it took hours for Batman's body to finally hit the water as he forced his body to swim faster. Nightwing could barely breathe as he pushed his body past its physical limits trying to get to Batman faster after seeing his body finally hit the ice cold water.

He grabbed Batman's mutilated and mangled body and was relieved to see that he was alive. He was breathing… barely… Nightwing quickly switched on his earpiece. "Wonder Woman, Robin, Batgirl! Report!"

"Hey, it's Robin… we're just about done wrapping up puke face."

Nightwing cut Robin off yelling "Batman is down send Wonder Woman immediately!"

"This is Wonder Woman what is your location?" Diana's voice was filled with anger. Nightwing knew she was going to be pissed off.

"Under Pier22… I'll be swimming with him to the batboat." Nighwing held onto Batman tightly as he fought against the current.

"Understood" Diana bolted towards the harbor scared out of her mind. Wondering what could possibly happen to Bruce this time… the fear for the worst put a sharp pain in her chest as her stomach started turning. Knowing that Dick had just called for her assistance in helping Bruce get back to the cave meant that Bruce was in serious trouble. She could see the ship in flames as she came closer. Diana winced as she gazed upon the wreckage. "That stubborn thickheaded idiot! I should have tied him to the bed with the lasso!" She darted to the batboat, blasting through the wooden pier as if it were paper right when Nightwing put Batman in the batboat.

She hovered down and helped Nightwing strap Batman in. "What happened?"

"I'll explain later, I set the boat on autopilot to head back to the cave. Alfred is on standby there. Go with him just incase he needs your assistance. I'll clean up things here." Nightwing hit the autopilot button and the canopy closed as the boat took off.

Diana could feel the heat from Bruce's body without even touching him. She turned on the interior light to see how much damage Bruce had taken this time. Her eyes widened with shear shock and horror as tears started running down her face. She couldn't believe what she saw… there was a steel rod that went though his left shoulder. The side of the rod facing her was completely covered in blood. It must have pierced him from behind. There was a sharp thick metal plate embedded in the outer half of his right thigh as well. But what really overwhelmed her was that his suit was completely fried. His cape… what was left of his cape… was melted onto his back. Not much of his suit was left for him to be even recognized as Batman. His skin was covered in ash, grime, and blood.

"Please Bruce… hold on… we are almost home… please…" She managed to choke out between sobs. She was furious that Bruce didn't stay home. Granted, she saw him in worse conditions than this, but that didn't make her feel any better. She had seen his beaten and battered body wheeled into the medical labs at the watchtower fighting to stay alive more times than she could count. Her heart always cringed with pain each and every time she waited at his side to hear his voice reassuring her that he would be ok. And each time she couldn't stop crying… fearing she would lose him… that it would finally be the one time his body would give up and fail him… that he would die and leave her.

The sound of the canopy opening snapped her out of her thoughts as she gently picked up Bruce and quickly flew him to the medical table. Alfred took a second to analyze the damage. "If you could Miss, the suit needs to come off, but please don't touch the rod or metal slab until I instruct you to do so." She gently tore off the suit piece by piece. It sounded as if she were ripping chunks of skin off his flesh. She wanted to vomit from the sound and sight of it, but forced herself to not emotionally break down now. She needed to focus and help Alfred… help Bruce.

Alfred inserted an I.V. in one arm while placing another needle in the other arm to slowly replenish the great amount of blood Bruce had lost. Alfred then quickly injected morphine into Bruce and hooked him up to medical units to stabilize him. Once he saw that Diana had finished removing Bruce's suit, he went to work on the steel rod.

"Miss Diana I need you to help me pull this rod out of him." He started cleaning the infected area around the rod. "Please go along with the grooves of the rod in a counter-clock wise motion." Diana slowly started pulling the rod out. It tormented her heart to hear the sound of his flesh grinding against the rod while seeing his skin and muscles tear apart as blood was continuously pouring out. It seemed like it took an eternity for the rod to finally come out of Bruce's shoulder. She looked at the rod in her hand… seeing tiny pieces of flesh stuck to it… all covered in Bruce's blood.

The batmobile pulled up as Tim, Dick, and Barbra jumped out with Tim being the first to run up to her. "How's he doing? Will he be alright?"

The four of them looked at Alfred for a status update on Bruce's condition. "Please Master Tim, let me finish so that I can give you an accurate assessment on Master Bruce's condition. Thank you so much for your assistance Miss Diana, I can take it from here." Diana nodded and turned back to the rod… still trying to comprehend all that's happened.

Anger started boiling through her veins as she bent the rod in half while looking up at Nightwing. "You! How could you let him leave the cave? You know he's in no condition to fight!" Knowing that real cause of her anger was Bruce's stubbornness, but taking her frustration out on Dick would have to suffice for now… she couldn't yell at Bruce yet. Both Tim and Barbra took a few steps back knowing Diana could possibly explode in a furry of rage. Dick narrowed his eyes and stood his ground. Not showing any sense of fear for what the Amazon could do. He reminded her of Batman… he held the same demeanor. Never backing down when challenged.

"His injuries had nothing to do with what happened at the harbor." Nightwing stated in a cold flat tone. Diana could sense the anger and frustration he had as he defended his mentor. "He was flawless… he executed his maneuvers without taking a single blow… it was like before… like the old times… one of the goons I was taking down grabbed a hold of one of the guns and started firing in my direction. Of course I easily evaded the bullets, but a few of them hit the controls of a crane… causing it to drop a giant pallet of crates on top of him… that idiot… along with several canisters and crates below. As I continued to take the other goons down, he told me to get out… seeing him reach for a batclaw and aimed it towards the skylight, I knew something was up… the opening was closer to me… allowing me to get out quicker than him right before the ship blew up…"

"I… I'm sorry Dick… I… I didn't mean to…" Diana dropped the rod and held herself in her arms as pain and sorrow overcame her anger. Little streams of tears started forming down her cheeks.

"It's ok Diana. You love him… we know that. We don't like seeing him like this anymore than you do. We love him too. But these things happen in our line of work. You know that." Dick gave a crying Barbra a comforting hug. Tim stood there watching Alfred work on Bruce anxiously waiting for Alfred to tell him that he would be fine.

"Why does it always have to be him? Why is it always him?" Diana yelled outwardly to no one in particular. It was more of a rhetorical question to herself than anything else.

"Because he's Batman…" Tim blurted out with a sigh. "He would rather have both his legs broken than me getting shot in the foot."

Diana knew that what Tim had said was true. Bruce would always be ready to take the hit for any of them. Even for the members of The Justice League… he planned on sacrificing himself by crashing the watchtower during the Thanagarian invasion… and the time he took a bullet for Superman by stopping the Kryptonite missile from getting to him during the volcanic eruption crisis. They all stood there silently when Alfred placed the final patch on Bruce.

"Miss Diana, Master Bruce will be just fine." The four of them snapped their heads up immediately with a sigh of relief. "If you could Miss… bring him to his room? I have been known to be wrong from time to time, but I'm sure he would find it more comfortable in his bed than he would in this cold cave." With a smile on her face she thanked Alfred and gently picked Bruce up and floated up towards the mansion.

* * *

><p>AN: Again please review!


	5. The Old Man

A/N: Thanks again for the support! I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint. I wonder if I'm going too slow... I'll try to speed things up on the next one.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything

* * *

><p><strong>The Old Man<strong>

Bruce slept for five days straight with Diana by his side. She told Superman of his condition and that she wouldn't be available for duty until further notice. Diana didn't want to be more than a hearing's distance from him. The only times she left the room were to use the restroom and step out onto the room's balcony to collect her thoughts. The cool breeze blew her hair around her face, keeping it covered from the sun's last bit of light as it was setting into the horizon. While leaning on the railing, she took her free hand and moved her hair behind her ear. Diana had been out there for about five hours contemplating about her relationship with Bruce. Being with him was easily the best time of her life. All the times they have spent together throughout the years, the missions and dates they shared… nothing else even came close. Now with the possibility of being his wife, he would give her everything she's ever wanted. They were going to stay by each other's side through both the good and the bad times.

Suddenly it hit her… Diana had forgotten all about it with everything that has happened the past few days. They hadn't spent that much time together before the ship incident. He isolated himself from The Justice League and acted… different… even for him. Diana knew he was brooding more than usual the few times she was with him. Not that she ever gets used to it, but it's become a routine in their relationship. A good week or two followed by two or three bad ones. Lately it's been more on the brooding side, but not enough to actually call it brooding by his standards. It was as if Bruce didn't know if he actually wanted to brood or not. Diana walked back into the room to watch Bruce sleep. The wounds from the rod piercing his shoulder were healing nicely while the bruises were fading, letting his skin complexion finally return to its normal color.

"Are you coming down for dinner?" She looked up to see Tim at the doorway with concern all over his face. He was worried about Diana more than Bruce. He knew Bruce would be fine. Tim believed that if he were going to die, he would have done so the first night. Bruce is too strong to not come back after healing for five days. But with Diana, she basically tore herself apart worrying about Bruce. Everyday her brooding over his health got worse. She has seen him heal faster from more intensive injuries than this and yet, he still hasn't recovered enough to wake up. "Common… he will be fine… he's too stubborn to die now… eat with us, it will make all of us happier to see you eat with us." She saw Tim crack a little smile from the joke he made trying to lighten the mood. Since she didn't eat much all day, Diana felt that it was a good idea to eat dinner with them and enjoy their company during this stressful time. She nodded in agreement and took one last look at Bruce before leaving the room.

Bruce opened his eyes and looked around to find himself in his room. "_Damn… my shoulder… at least I can move it… my ribs seem to be healing well. Most of the bruising has faded away… what time is it?_" Bruce looked at his clock, 7:28pm. He gingerly got up and put on a sweat shirt and pants. "_How did I not see that explosion sooner? Hell… why didn't I get out of there faster? Damn it… Hopefully Dick wrote a good enough report for me to find out what happened._" He slowly made his way to the batcave, put on the batsuit for extra support in keeping his body together, then went and sat in his chair to begin analyzing what had happened.

Eating dinner with Tim, Dick, and Barbra really did boost Diana's mood. Dick and Tim easily broke the tension with their humorous bantering with Barbra acting as the referee. Diana looked at the clock on the wall and saw that it was 8:00pm, an hour since she left Bruce alone. She excused herself form the table and decided to go check on him. Diana walked into the room and froze, her eyes widened with shock. The bed was empty. She rushed to the bathroom hoping he was washing up… nothing. She flew back to the bed frantically looking around, thinking of where he could possibly be. Her fists grew tight, her eyes narrowed, blood boiling with anger as she gritted her teeth. "BRRUUUUUUUUCCCEEE!" Diana instantly bolted through the door and down towards the batcave, determined to bash his head in for being so stubbornly stupid. Tim, Dick, Barbra and Alfred watched Diana zoom past them towards the cave's entrance and immediately dropped their forks to follow knowing that this particular fight between Bruce and Diana wasn't going to end well.

Batman sat staring at the satellite photo image of the ship's haul. "_There's nothing that I didn't know or see already… could it be that I just didn't react quickly enough? Am I getting that slow? No…I…_"

"BRRUUUUUUUUCCCEEE!"

Bruce rolled his eyes in annoyance "_Great… just what I needed…_" He looked over at the stairway to see her zooming towards him with Dick, Tim, and Barbra running behind her. Without thinking, he spat out "I'm fine… go back to dinner." Bruce let out a loud sigh of frustration as he instantly realized the huge mistake he just made. He turned his chair to face the extremely angry Amazon glaring at him.

Diana slammed both her arms down on the armrests of Bruce's chair, denting them in the process. Bruce looked down at the dents before narrowing his eyes as he looked back up to meet Diana's cold glare with one of his own. With Diana's rage passed beyond her boiling point, her hands unconsciously crunched the armrests and tore the chair in half forcing Bruce to stand up inches away from her. He could feel her breath on the exposed half of his face as it actually felt good, circumstances aside. He couldn't remember the last time they were this close… of course he would have preferred it under a more favorable situation.

"FINE? Like Hades you are! Get to bed NOW!" Her eyes locked on him as if they were going to burn a hole in his face. Though he would never verbally admit it, that was the best glare he's ever seen her give. If it wasn't for his cowl shielding him from part of it, he wondered what would have happened. But he had more important things to worry about… like her breaking his neck. "I have spent the past five days caring for you. Worrying about you. Watching over you. You are not even close to being fine. You wake up and go straight down here without even letting us know you're up? Get your ass back…"

"I can take care of myself." Bruce snapped as he cut her off, further escalating the situation.

"That coming from the idiot who blew himself up!" Diana poked her index finger into Bruce's chest hard enough to cause him to grit his teeth in pain.

"Gotham is MY city! I can deal with anything that happens on my own! I don't NEED any of you!" Filled with rage, Batman jumped into the batmobile and took off into the dark night of Gotham.

Anger boiled through Diana's veins as she was beyond pissed off. Her teeth were clenched tightly as the power of her glare rivaled Batman's. The rage inside her was about to explode as she so desperately wanted to destroy the batcave with her bare hands. All of Diana's emotions were mixed into one giant blast of furry. She was pissed off because he was back in his 'do it myself attitude', angry that he wouldn't listen to her, frustrated that she wasn't there to protect him, and furious that he kept putting himself in so much unnecessary physical pain.

"That stubborn, stupid, self-centered idiot! I'm going to kill him!" Diana yelled as she hammered away at another batmobile that was already damaged a few weeks ago.

Dick shook his head and sighed "Well it finally happened… He finally snapped… damn… I owe you fifty bucks."

"Yea…" Tim mumbled out…"But who would have thought it would take him blowing himself up to realize it."

Diana furiously glared at them after hearing what they had said. She saw Dick looking at the ground while scratching the back of his head with a miserable look on his face. Barbra crossed her arms over her stomach… holding herself as she was crying. Tim… with a demoralized look on his face, continued to stare at what was left of the broken batmobile. "What? You two find his idiotic arrogance amusing enough to start taking bets!" Diana's eyes narrowed as she stormed over to the two inconsiderate boys to pummel them into oblivion.

After seeing what the angry Amazon did to the batmobile, Dick quickly jumped backwards. "No! We were just talking about the day that Bruce would finally realize he's done."

"Done?" Diana stopped, confused by what Dick had just said. Barbra had been crying… at first Diana thought that she was crying because Bruce had told all of them that he didn't need any of them. Anger obviously clouded her judgment. She should have known that Barbra was stronger than that. There was no way a stupid statement like "I don't need any of you" would have made her break down like this. There was something she didn't understand, something that she didn't catch. Something they all knew but she didn't, and it was deep. It was something about Bruce that none of them wanted to see happen, but she couldn't figure out what. "What do you mean he's done?" Diana shouted, still furious with Bruce's childish antics, and now having this new frustration piled on top of that as everyone in the cave knew what was wrong with Bruce except her.

Everyone stood quiet except for Barbra who couldn't stop crying. Diana looked at Tim as he continued to stare at the crumpled up batmobile… Dick was trying to give her the answer she needed but had trouble getting the words out. Seeing that she wasn't getting an answer from any of them, she turned to Alfred. "What's wrong with Bruce?"

Diana's demanding tone was harsher than she intended it to be, but with her obvious anger and frustration controlling her emotions, Alfred took the question in stride and began to answer her delicately. "I'm afraid… Miss… that Master Bruce… how shall I say…"

"He's getting old." Tim interrupted to bluntly finish Alfred's answer. Diana quickly turned towards Tim who still hadn't broken his stare at the batmobile.

"Old?... Oh Hera…" Diana finally understood everything now. "He… He's…" She began to mutter out.

"He's getting slower." Dick finished for her as her legs buckled, causing her to drop to the floor with rivers of tears beginning to run down her face. Barbra came over and sat with Diana, holding her in her arms to cry together. 'He's getting old' kept repeating over again in her head. Her jaw dropped in total shock … her heart shattered in to pieces. It was as if Atlas himself dropped the world on top of her. Her love was slowly breaking down. He was slowly dying… and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

Everything made sense now. The ridiculous amount of extra hours spent training. The daily injuries followed by longer recovery periods. His isolation. His extensive brooding. His body was failing him. Bruce put such a high level of expectations on himself – more than he placed on anyone else. It wasn't about him proving to everyone that he can still do it, mainly because to everyone, he could still do it. But it was proving to himself that he could still do it HIS way… To his standards. Bruce knew that eventually he would have to retire from being Batman. That his body wouldn't be able to handle the stress. That he was eventually going to die just like any mortal. He never spoke about his transition into retirement, not that she ever wanted to talk about that either. She knew Bruce didn't handle loss very well…and he needed her now more than ever. Diana had to be strong, not just for herself, but for him.

Both Diana and Barbra stood up trying to regain their composure. "What do we do now?" Barbra finally managed to say as she managed to stop the tears from running down her face.

Dick looked at Alfred before turning back towards Barbra. "Well… we do what we always do… we wait until he figures it out for himself. Then his decision will be final… he'll tell us what his contingency plans are and where to go from there…" They all slowly made their way back to the mansion to comfort each other… support each other… and wait for him.

Batman finally returned to the cave. He didn't expect anyone to be up waiting for him, it was a little past three o'clock in the morning. He noticed that the wrecked batmobile turned into a giant ball of metal. Bruce was angry that she completely destroyed one of his cars, but at the same time, relieved that she didn't destroy the entire cave or waited to break him in half… He changed out of his suit and went to his room to sleep. He quietly opened his door and saw her. There she was, sleeping beautifully on her side of the bed. A little warmth came back in to his heart as he quietly walked over to watch her sleep for a minute. She was beautiful. It didn't matter that her hair was ragged or that tear stains covered her cheeks. She was there. He didn't have the heart to wake her, not after what he put her through. He went to his side of the bed, slid underneath the sheets without disturbing her and faced the ceiling.

Diana woke up the instant he entered the room wondering what he was going to do. Feeling him looking at her before slowly sliding underneath the sheets on his side made her heart warm, she loved it when he watched her sleep. Of course, he would normally do so with her in his arms than from the side of the bed. They had their little game of who could watch the other sleep longer. It never lasted for very long. They both seemed to know when the other was watching them. She always had this sense of knowing when Bruce was looking her way. Bruce's senses probably had more to do with his obsessive paranoia than anything else. Diana figured that if she couldn't even spy on him during his patrols, she didn't stand a chance watching him sleep for very long. Diana decided to roll over onto Bruce and cuddle up to him. Without opening her eyes, she whispered "I love you" while intertwining her left leg with his and placing her arm over his chest, holding him tight.

Bruce continued to stare at the ceiling. "Why?" Diana opened her eyes to look at him. She knew he was sorry for storming out on her. His face showed her that he doubted himself and his abilities, that he didn't believe he was good enough for her. Diana watched Bruce turn towards her and look into her eyes. "Why me? You deserve so much better than me…"

She smiled as she placed her hand on his cheek with her thumb tracing his lips. "Will you stop asking me that? I love you because I do. You are the strongest man I know. You sacrifice so much more of yourself than anyone. You don't have any powers and yet, you do more for the people than half of the heroes with powers in the league combined. Saving lives and protecting the innocent is just a job to the rest of the league, but for you, it's your life. You do it because it's the right thing to do, not because it's easy or because it brings fame and glory. You do it so that no other innocent child will ever lose his parents again. I wish you would see yourself the way I see you. You bring hope into people's lives. You bring hope into my life. You bring so much honor into what you do. I love you for that. I love you for everything that you stand for. For what I believe Batman stands for."

Bruce gave out a sigh as he turned back to look at the ceiling and think. Diana nervously watched him, he was either going to say something really stupid or open up to her. She prayed for the latter as Bruce turned away from her to take something out of his nightstand. It was a small little black box. Her heart jumped as her eyes widened in anticipation. "_Could this be it? Is that what I think it is? Hera! Please let this be it!_" Hoping to herself, she was too afraid to move when Bruce's eyes went from the little black box to her eyes. She saw the look in his face, he was nervous as well. If it were any other man, she'd say he had the look of fear on his face. Maybe he was scared of the possibility that she might reject him… at this point, Diana's mind was racing with questions as her heart was beating out of her chest.

Bruce's voice was filled with uncertainty and hesitation. "Princess... I… I… you… you've…" giving up on trying to propose to her, he opened the box revealing a beautiful wedding ring covered in diamonds, rubies, and sapphires.

Once Diana's eyes gazed upon the ring, he didn't have to say anything. The ring said it all as Diana already knew how much she meant to him. The obvious hint that she got back in the cave about him possibly proposing still didn't help Diana prepare herself from the sudden explosion of emotions that hit her right then and there. They overloaded her brain as nothing but pure joy and happiness filled her heart. Hyperventilating, Diana could only weakly mouth the word 'yes' while tears of joy streamed down her face.

The nervousness that Bruce felt increased exponentially while he watched Diana tremble as she stared at the ring. "Diana? Will… will you marry me?"

With her heart now leaping out of her chest, Diana could only look up into his nervous eyes as she repeatedly nodded her head before finally squeaking out "Yes!"

"Yes?" A small smile appeared on Bruce's face as his nerves calmed. He heard her say it ever so softly, but his nerves demanded him to make absolutely sure that she actually said it.

Seeing the smile on Bruce's face allowed Diana to regain control over herself as she shouted "YES!" reaffirming her obvious answer. Complete happiness and joy surged through Diana's entire body as she hugged and kissed him repeatedly. "Of course I'll marry you!"

A giant smile was plastered on Bruce's face as he slipped the ring on the correct finger. Bruce looked into her bright pearl blue eyes and kissed her on her forehead as he held her tight. "Never leave me… I love you. I am yours."

Hearing those words come out of his mouth made her life complete, she really had everything she'd ever want. Nothing but pure happiness and love continued to fill her heart as she smashed her lips against his. "I will never leave you. I belong to you and only you." She said lovingly after catching her breath and rolling on top of him with a seductive grin on her face. Diana's mouth went right back to Bruce's as her hands roamed all over his hardened muscular body while her fingertips glided over his scars. His hands, massaging the back of her silky smooth thighs as they slowly moved up to her curvaceous hips, slid her black panties off. Not breaking the contact of their lips, she reached down and pulled his boxers off. Diana finally pulled back, allowing both of them to breathe in much needed oxygen as Bruce took off her nightgown and removed her bra, exposing her perfectly voluptuous breasts that only a goddess could possess. He admired her body… pure beautiful perfection.

Looking into each other's eyes, they knew that tonight was going to be a night that neither of them would ever forget. As the two became lovers throughout the night, the level of passion and pleasure increased exponentially. The third and fourth rounds overloaded Diana's emotions, causing her to scream in ecstasy while Bruce tried to do everything he possibly could to make sure that their special moment together would never end. He wanted their first time together to be a memorable intimately passionate one.

They were unaware that their lovemaking produced extremely high levels of passion and love. So high that their special moment together easily caught the attention of a certain goddess as she watched them with a smile on her face. "My lady, it seems our favorite Amazon, Princess Diana of the Themyscira has finally chosen a mate. Their love and bond is very strong, stronger than I initially expected." Aphrodite, The Goddess of Love gave the crystal ball she used to watch the two lovers to Hera, The Goddess of Women and Marriage.

Hera's eyes gazed into the crystal ball. "Yes you are correct… curious… what is this mortal's name?"

"He is known as The Batman." Aphrodite said with a hint of approval in her voice.

Hera gave the crystal ball back to Aphrodite with a smile on her face. "Ah yes… The Batman… but is he truly worthy of such an honor? We shall see…"

"Yes my Queen." Aphrodite closed the vision of the two lovers as she walked with Hera towards the other Olympian Gods.

* * *

><p>Thanks for reading!<p>

Thoughts? Comments?

Please let me know what you think.


	6. Decisions

A/N: I know it's taken me a while to get to the Gods… but they're on their way!

The thought of giving Batman powers has crossed my mind. I have a pretty good idea of how I want this story to go, but I'll revisit that idea later. For now I hope this chapter lives up to your expectations!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter6 <strong>

**Decisions**

Bruce woke up with Diana happily sleeping on top of him with her head resting on his chest. He watched her sleep peacefully for a few minutes before she woke up with a smile on her face. "Damn… why did you have to wake up Princess?" A smirk quickly appeared on his face.

Diana's smile morphed into a giant grin as she hugged him tightly "Well good morning to you too!" before kissing his chest.

Bruce wrapped both his arms around Diana and kissed her forehead before letting out a sigh and speaking in a low serious tone. "I don't think I can do it anymore…" She looked up waiting for him to continue, knowing that admitting his eventual downfall was killing him. "I'm getting old Princess… eventually my body is going to fail me. I… I'm… slowing down…"

Diana was saddened by his words. He was thinking about the inevitable… that he will eventually have to retire as Batman or worse… die. She didn't want to see him like this. To her, Batman was always a constant in her life. The way he fought, how he maneuvered around his foes, everything was effortless and precise. She would watch him out of the corner of her eye just to see him work during battles and be amazed by the things he did. She never grew tired of it… unless somehow he injured himself… then she would want to take the one who hurt him and bash his head in. Knowing Bruce had already thought of a plan to deal with his mortality, she asked him "What are you going to do?"

Bruce sighed. "Gotham is my city Princess… it will always come first. My body won't allow me to split my attention between Gotham and The Justice League anymore… I'm going to resign from the league and focus everything that I have left on Gotham. I'm going to tell them my decision during our meeting today."

His depressing words made her want to tell him that he was wrong. That he can do it, that he could still be apart of the league in a reduced role that didn't involve constant confrontations with enemies. But she now knew better than that. She wouldn't argue with him over his decision. After all, she knew that his own stubbornness would be the first to tell him that he could still do it. His body didn't have the energy for him to be apart of the league, patrolling Gotham, and be Bruce Wayne anymore. Diana also knew that if Batman were to do anything, he would only do it by his own standards. His pride would only allow him to go out into the field of battle if he could meet his own supremely high expectations. Anything less would be unacceptable.

The meeting of the original seven leaguers went on as usual. With Superman continuously talking and extending each topic longer than anyone could bear. Wonder Woman tried to hide her gloominess but Flash, J'onn, Shayera, and Green Lantern easily sensed that something was bothering her. Normally they would always catch her looking at Batman but this time she just kept her eyes looking down at the table with her hands resting together on her lap. They didn't know that her fingers kept playing with a certain new piece of jewelry. Diana wasn't sure how to bring up the good news after Batman was going to devastate them with his decision.

Seeing as Superman was still babbling about whatever he was saying… no one was paying attention anymore… J'onn decided to telepathically ask if Wonder Woman was alright. "_It's usually Batman who does the brooding… is everything alright Diana?_" Startled at first, Diana looked up to see Flash, GL, Shayera, and J'onn looking at her with concern. She then looked over to Batman and saw that he still had his usual emotionless stare waiting for Superman to finish up. Diana knew that Batman was deep in thought about what he was going to say… it deepened her sorrows further knowing that what he was about to say was coming so soon.

"_Oh… sorry J'onn… no… I'm ok…_" Diana thought hesitantly.

Before Diana could elaborate any further, Superman finished his speech. "If there aren't any issues anyone wants to discuss, then I can say that this meeting is over."

Batman quickly stood up before anyone could say anything. "I have an announcement to make…" Everyone quickly glanced at Diana before turning their attention towards Batman. They waited to hear if what he had to say related to why she was so upset. Diana was struggling to hold back her tears as her emotions were getting the better of her.

Batman didn't speak with his usual Batman voice. While it was still low and flat, it had a little bit more emotion embedded in it. "I'm resigning from The Justice League effective immediately…" Everyone's jaw dropped except for Diana's as she couldn't do anything but look straight down at the table.

"What! You can't quit!" Flash blurted out loud, refusing to believe what he just heard.

Batman raised his hand to silence everyone so that he could finish. "Let me say first that it's been an honor and a privilege to work with all of you. But it's come to my attention that I can no longer fulfill my duties to Gotham and the league based on the expectations that I've placed on myself. Therefore, I will not allow myself endanger any of you on the battle field, or the league's reputation due to my deteriorating physical abilities. Of course, if you ever come across a seriously fatal issue of utmost importance and require my assistance, you can have Wonder Woman contact me."

Utter shock surrounded the room. No one could believe what they were hearing. Wally, still trying to comprehend what just took placed shouted "What are you saying Bats? You're quitting because you don't have powers? You do more than half of us with powers! We need you!" Shayera smacked him in the back of the head. "OW! What? Why isn't anyone stopping him?"

GL impersonated Batman with a glare on his own towards Flash. "He's saying he's retiring because he's getting old you idiot."

Flash's face instantly went from a confusing anger look to a somber one. "Oh… but Bats… couldn't you stay…"

Before Flash could finish, a bright white light filled the room followed by a very young looking man dressed in a chiton with a winged helmet and sandals. "Who are you and what business do you..." Superman started to ask before being cut off by Wonder Woman.

Diana quickly kneeled. "Hermes! What do the Gods wish me to do?"

"Ah Princess Diana, long time no see! Glad to see you're doing well, but I actually didn't come to see you. I have a message for the one called The Batman." Diana's jaw dropped, quickly snapping her head towards Batman in utter shock. The rest of the leaguers were clueless as to what was going on while Batman stood there trying to think of what the Gods could possibly want with him.

"Yes Hermes… I am doing very well…. please… Batman is right here." Diana motioned towards Batman.

"Ah so you are the one named Batman?" Hermes looked at Batman as if he were sizing him up, somewhat not impressed at what stood before him.

"Yes" Batman said flatly as he narrowed his eyes feeling that the God had just insulted him, but knew he was a God none the less and it remained in his best interest at the moment to not insult a God.

"I see… I wonder what the Princess sees in a mortal like you… but I'll find out soon enough." There was some suppressed laughter from the confused leaguers… it's not everyday that Batman gets insulted and doesn't do anything about it. Hermes started digging through his pouch of scrolls. "Ah here it is… ahem…" Hermes cleared his throat before reading the message off the scroll word for word.

"It has come to the attention of the Gods of Mount Olympus that Diana, the Princess of the Amazons, has chosen her mate to be the mortal known as The Batman. Normally, the potential mate for a given Greek Champion of Princess Diana's caliber would be presented with a choice to accept or decline the participation in the Trials of the Gods to deem him worthy of the honor of being Princess Diana's mate. If the potential mate accepts the participation of the trials, but fails to complete them, he will be branded as unworthy of such an honor, die an instant death and be placed in Hades for eternity. If the potential mate chooses to decline the participation in the trials, the mate also forfeits all rights and privileges of being Diana's mate and shall be banished from ever being in contact with her due to his cowardice. HOWEVER, since Princess Diana has already mated with The Batman, he MUST participate in the trials. Refusal to do so OR failure to successfully complete them will result in eternal damnation within the pits of Tartarus as vultures shall eat his genitals everyday for the violation and contamination of Princess Diana's purity."

Everyone's jaw dropped, including Batman's. No one could believe what they just heard.

"I'm ordered to take Batman to Mount Olympus immediately as the trials shall begin on the next earth day at dawn. I hope you picked a good one Diana, for his sake..." Hermes gestured at Batman.

Still in shock of what was just read to her and knowing what Batman is about to go through, she muttered "Am… am I allowed to accompany him to Mount Olympus?"

"Sorry Diana, I only have orders to take him, but you are allowed to journey to Mount Olympus to witness the trials if you choose." Hermes put a hand on her shoulder knowing the tremendous heartache that she was about to go through.

Diana looked at Batman with tears running down her face. "I'm so sorry! I… I…" Batman went to hug Diana as she fell into him, holding him tightly with her head buried in his neck.

She looked up into his eyes, his face said it all "It's ok Princess… if this is what I have to do to be with you… then I'll do it." Batman pulled away and motioned to Hermes that he was ready to go.

As Batman turned to go with Hermes Diana whispered "I love you!" Batman could only look back before vanishing with Hermes to Mount Olympus. Standing there in complete shock and disbelief, Diana couldn't move. All she could do was stare at where Bruce was…

"DAMN! You had sex was Bats? Wow… you kind of screwed him on that one!" Flash blurted out.

"SHUT UP WALLY!" Everyone yelled as Shayera furiously hit Flash in the chest with her mace, sending him crashing into the wall.

"Ow… ok I deserved that… but that was one damn good joke though…" Flash picked himself up off the floor. "I don't know why you all are so worried. We're talking about Bats here… if anyone can pull this off, it's going to be him."

Everyone looked at each other nervously. "Would you like me to go with you?" Shayera asked quietly.

Diana finally snapped out of it as she shook her head with a sigh of anguish. "No… I… I think its best if I go alone…I have to go to the Themyscira and enter through the gates of Mount Olympus."

"Are you sure? You might need someone there with you as you watch him…" Shayera slowly pointed out, trying to be as helpful as she could be.

"I think Shayera's right Diana... you should take her with you." Superman said.

Diana nodded slowly. "…You may be right… very well… let's go Shayera." Both women quickly left the room for the Javelin to begin their trip to the Themyscira.

The four men were still shocked by the events that just unfolded in front of them. Flash scratched his head as he looked at John. "Damn GL… can you believe it? Bats is finally in a serious relationship with Diana!"

Green Lantern walked to the table, slamming his fists down while hanging his head. "Yea… but I hope he lives long enough to enjoy it…"

J'onn came up and placed his hand on GL's shoulder. "Batman is a true warrior, he will prevail. I've seen it in his heart. He loves Diana more than anything."

To help keep the optimism up, Superman crossed his arms over his chest and looked at his fellow colleagues. "Bruce will be fine… he's the only man I know that can think his way out of anything… besides he's too stubborn to let the Gods seal his fate like that." Just then, all for men shuttered at the thought of their crotches being eating by vultures…

Shayera turned to Diana, seeing her resting her chin on her hand while looking out the window deep in thought. She didn't say a word since they started flying to the Themyscira. Shayera knew that Diana was tremendously beyond stressed out with everything that has happened. She figured a little 'Girl Talk' might help lighten the mood. "So… how was it?" Diana raised her eyebrow, not understanding the question right away. She turned towards Shayera and saw the smirk on her face turn into a mischievous smile. "How was he?" She asked again, this time with a grin on her face.

Diana's face turned completely red as she couldn't help but blush. She cracked a smile while tucking the hair in front of her face behind her left ear. "It was truly amazing, the best night of my life."

Shayera caught the sight of the beautiful diamond ring as it sparkled on Diana's finger. "NO WAY! HE ASKED YOU TO MARRY HIM?" Shayera couldn't believe it as she almost lost control of the jet. Bruce… Batman of all people… the last man on earth she would ever believe to want to get married, put a ring on Wonder Woman's finger.

A giant grin formed on Diana's face as she couldn't help but giggle like a little school girl. "Yes! He did!" For the rest of the trip, the two women talked about their respective relationships, giving each other their insights and perspective.

They landed on the Themyscira and quickly proceeded to Diana's mother, Queen Hippolyta. "Diana! It has been too long!" Queen Hippolyta sprang out of her throne and graciously hugged Diana with a giant smile on her face before greeting Shayera. As she looked over her daughter, she saw that something was troubling her. She placed her hand on her daughter's cheek. "What is it my little sun and stars? Why do I see such pain and suffering in your eyes?"

Diana looked up to face her mother. "Mother, I... I have chosen a mate… and the Gods have sent him to the Trials on Mount Olympus… we must go to see him participate…"

Queen Hippolyta wasn't exactly happy that Diana had picked a mate, mostly because of her previous hatred for them, but she was relieved that Diana wasn't in any serious danger.

She gave Diana a comforting smile. "I see… well I'm sure the man in the red cape is powerful enough to withstand anything the Gods test him with."

Shayera used every ounce of her willpower to suppress her laughter. Diana glanced over to Shayera, seeing her struggling to stay quiet. She knew Shayera wouldn't let this go. "No mother… I did not choose the one named Superman."

Queen Hippolyta raised her eyebrow in surprise. She was sure Diana would have picked the most powerful man of the group, the only man whose power exceeded Diana's. "Oh… well it must be the powerful man with the green energy that surrounds him." she confidently stated.

"Nope sorry, he's my man." Shayera managed to say, not knowing how much longer she could hold in her laughter while watching Queen Hippolyta's attempts to correctly guess Diana's man.

Queen Hippolyta looked over at Shayera in bewilderment then back to watch Diana shake her head. "No mother…" Diana was starting to get impatient with her mother's insistence on guessing her mate's identity.

Diana was about to end this and tell her, but she saw her mother squirm for an instant and hesitantly ask "It's not the buffoon in red is it?"

Diana rolled her eyes as she crossed her arms on her chest in annoyance. "Of course not mother." Shayera was dying, she felt as if her lungs were about to explode as her sides were throbbing with pain trying to hold in her laughter. Shayera didn't know how she was still standing. She wished she could have recorded this conversation to show everyone in the league – it was hilarious.

Seeing her options dwindle down to two, Queen Hippolyta chose the more logical choice. "The powerful yet soft spoken green man he is then…"

Diana could only squeeze the bridge of her nose and close her eyes as if she just had a migraine while Shayera somehow managed to squeaked out "Care to try bachelor number five?" without letting any laughter escape, trying not to offend the Queen.

Queen Hippolyta sighed in defeat "That just leaves the dark pointy-eared one…"

Clearly irritated by her mother's lack of approval, Diana firmly said "He's truly a great warrior mother. Batman's fighting skills far exceeded my own, even before he began training me. He is highly intelligent, courageous and is greatly respected by the entire league. His honor is pure and he would fight for my honor as if it were his own."

Accepting her daughter's decision, Queen Hippolyta smiled and softly said "He's going to have to now… we pray that he is strong enough to succeed as he journeys through the path that lies ahead." She hugged Diana and motioned for her and Shayera to follow her to the temple that holds the gateway to Mount Olympus. As she escorted Diana to the temple with her right arm interlocked with Diana's left, she chuckled. "It's something about those dark brooding men that we just can't seem to resist!"

Diana tucked the hair in front of her face behind her ear as she looked down blushing. "No we can't."


	7. The Trial of the Gods

**A/N:** I know it's been a while… this chapter seemed somewhat short so I decided to combine it with the next one!

* * *

><p><strong>The Trial of the Gods<strong>

The three women made their way to the entrance of the Mount Olympus palace and were escorted to the throne room by Hermes. The throne room was gigantic. Bright white marble covered the entire floor with the sunlight pouring through the open roof, bouncing off the golden walls and pillars. There were two beautifully decorated golden chairs in the center of the room while other smaller chairs, still very beautiful, filled out the row. There were decorations and ornaments scattered throughout the place, weapons and armor made famous by their owners were pinned to the walls above the chairs allowing anyone who saw them to know which deity sat in which particular chair. Hermes told them that the Trials of the Gods wouldn't begin for another twelve earth hours and for them to reside into one of the royal chambers until they began.

Diana asked if she was allowed to see Batman, but Hermes unfortunately told her that the mortal on trial is forbidden to come into contact with anyone until after the trials are over. Hermes opened the door to their room and offered them to eat as much food as they liked. Before leaving the three women to settle into their chambers, Hermes advised Diana to rest up as the trials can be very unbearable to watch, let alone participate in. Queen Hippolyta went to take a bath leaving Shayera and Diana to themselves in the main room. Shayera was finally able to laugh as she thought back to what had happened. "Your conversation with your mother was golden! I can't wait to tell everyone."

"That's NOT funny!" Diana glared at her. "Don't you dare tell anyone about that!" She watched Shayera clutching her sides while rolling around in nonstop laughter.

"Ok…ok… I… won't… tell…" Sayera managed to squeak out between laughs. "We don't want to hurt Mr. Tall, Dark, and Brooding's ego now do we?"

Diana's anger quickly subsided and the two finished their 'Girl Talk' from the earlier conversation in the Javelin. When Queen Hippolyta came back from her bath, she told them about the history of the Trials of the Gods for mortal mates. It wasn't a very inspiring one. Of the hundreds of thousands of men who participated in the trials to deem themselves worthy in front of the Gods, only a small handful succeeded. What made matters worse was that the few who managed to succeed had at least one special extra ordinary power to aid them. No mortal man without any powers has ever made it past the first test.

Queen Hippolyta told them that tests vary each time depending on the will of the Gods. The Gods can even alter any part of the test as they see fit while it is going on. That really worried the Princess but her mother assured her that the Gods would only change the tests if the mortal did something to offend them. She also told them that the harder the test is, the greater the reward would be… should he succeed. Though it is rare, the Gods may even give gifts to the couple if the mortal impresses the Gods during his trials. Seeing how Batman's reward for succeeding would be Diana's love, they came to the conclusion that the tests would be extremely difficult. Queen Hippolyta revealed that Batman could be tested on a variety of things: strength, honor, agility, courage, knowledge, integrity, and anything else the Gods wished to see. There would normally be seven challenges that he would have to take. They would stand in the throne room with the Gods and watch the trials unfold in a vision cloud while listening to Batman's thoughts as he progresses through his journey. Diana would not be able to communicate with him however, only the Gods have the power to talk to him directly. Queen Hippolyta warned Diana that she will probably feel that the challenges may seem cruel or even impossible to complete, but she must hold her tongue and not object to the Gods' decisions. If any one of them did, it would upset the Gods and might make them make the trial harder or worse, kill Batman on the spot and send him on his way to eternal damnation. The only thing they can do is accept the challenges placed before Batman and pray that he succeeds.

Diana stayed up all night worrying about Bruce and knowing that the worst has yet to come. Everything that Bruce will go through was her fault. If Bruce fails and is sentenced to eternal damnation, it would be her fault. She was powerless to help the man she loved as he battled for his life, for their love. For all the times Bruce had hurt her, broke her heart and put her on the brink of multiple nervous breakdowns with his idiotic stubbornness and commitment issues… for all the pain she went through… the pain currently embedded in her heart was hurting a thousand times more. She never realized that her heart could hurt so much, and there was nothing she could do to heal the pain. There's only one man who can save her from the pain that tormented her, to heal her heavy heart, to bring happiness back into her life. Bruce. Batman… the only man she wants, will always want, and will never stop loving. The only thing that stopped Diana from having an emotional breakdown was her undying belief that Bruce will once again be the one to save her. He was always there to save her, even when she didn't need saving, and that wasn't going to change… not if he had anything to say about it. He is Batman, The World's Greatest Detective, her Dark Knight… the best at what he does… If there was a way for him to win, he was going to find it.

Time seemed to move excruciatingly slow as the three women were anxiously waiting in the throne room with an hour left before the trials would begin. Both Shayera and Queen Hippolyta wanted to help comfort Diana but neither could find anything to say that would have done so. They both knew the odds of Batman succeeding were not in his favor. Diana was pacing in circles nervously as she didn't know what else to do when they suddenly heard footsteps coming from the other side of the throne entrance. Hermes was the first of many figures to be recognized. Diana's jaw dropped in shock as another figure flew straight at her, knocking her back while giving her a gigantic hug.

"Diana! You should have told me! You look like crap…" Donna Troy released her grip on Diana while taking a look at her sister, noticing all the tear stains on her face. "Don't worry… Batman's the best there is… I mean come on… he kicks your butt all the time when you spar with him." she said with a smile, hoping to lighten the mood.

Diana tried to crack a smile but could only sigh in grief. "What are you doing here? How did you…" Diana asked but stopped as she saw who else Hermes had escorted into the throne room: Nightwing, Robin, Batgirl, Superman, Green Lantern, Flash and J'onn. Hermes allowed them to enter and acknowledged Diana and Queen Hippolyta before leaving.

Donna explained to Diana that Superman informed her of the situation and if there was anyway they could help. Once she found out, Donna had to tell Nightwing to come and since Hermes owed her a favor, she had him escort everyone to Mount Olympus to support her and Batman in their time of need. With Diana still too distraught to talk in length, Queen Hippolyta explained what was happening and that there was nothing they could do to help Batman. She also warned them not to speak to the Gods and allow her, Diana, or Donna to speak on their behalf knowing the Gods would be irritated with the number of mortals watching the trials.

It was the longest hour of her life, but finally it was over as the Gods appeared instantly when the sun broke over the horizon. All the Gods chatted and settled into their respective thrones as their attention focused on the Amazons and their friends. "Why are there mortals in my presence? Hippolyta, why do you insult us with such beings?" Zeus demanded angrily.

"My lord, they are earth's greatest warriors… all of whom honorably share the battlefield with the one named Batman. They only wish to see his worth in your view my King… nothing more." Queen Hippolyta said humbly, hoping that Zeus wouldn't smite them for their annoyance while the heroes nervously knelt before the Gods unaware of the consequences they might face if the Gods didn't approve of their presence.

"Let them watch my husband. After all, they are friends of our favorite Princess Diana. I'm sure they will be well behaved." Hera said while signaling her approval to Queen Hippolyta and Diana.

"Very well… Hermes, bring forth the one named Batman." Zeus demanded while gesturing towards Hermes. With a flash of bright light, Batman appeared unharmed as he stood facing the Gods with his back against the heroes. Diana instantly had the urged to go kiss him and hold him in her arms again. It took all her willpower and strength to not move, she knew no one was allowed to talk to him until after the trials were complete… if he succeeds…

"Hey Bats!" Flash yelled as Batman turned and glared at him. Although Batman didn't show it, he was surprised and confused as to how all the original members of the league, Donna, and the batclan were able to be standing next to Diana and Queen Hippolyta.

"SILENCE!" Zeus shouted as he eyeballed the heroes, thinking if he should smite them or not. Everyone else furiously glared at Flash while Shayera hit him over the head with her mace.

"Oh… right… I forgot…" Flash whispered as he rubbed the back of his head.

"You pathetic powerless mortal! Do you truly believe you are worthy of my daughter's hand? That you can take her purity before my judgment?" Hades angrily stared down Batman, but Batman didn't show any reaction as he glared back at Hades. Diana had to give it to Bruce, not even the Gods intimidated him. And even if he was, he didn't show it as usual. "Speak mortal!" Hades demanded as he grew impatient with his inability to visibly intimidate Batman.

"Calm down brother… that's why we have these trials. If he passes, he will then be worthy of having the honor of being Princess Diana's mate." Hera calmly stated then took her attention to the Dark Knight. "Batman, I presume that the rules and stipulations of the trials were presented to you?"

Batman nodded. "Yes… I'm aware of the consequences of my failure to succeed."

"What is your decision mortal?" Zeus demanded.

Batman narrowed his white screened eyes. "When this is over, Diana is coming home with me."

After most of the Gods calmed themselves from their intense laughter, Hades sat up with a smirk on his face. "Your arrogance is very amusing."

Zeus took a few more breaths as his own laughter finally subsided. "Very well… You will be sent to a given location where you must complete certain challenges. If you succeed, you will then be immediately sent to another location to complete another challenge. There will be no intermissions." With a flash of bright white light, Batman was gone and a giant vision cloud appeared in the middle of the room.


	8. The Pits of Tartarus

**The Pits of Tartarus**

"Excellent… this pathetic mortal shall not live through the underworld." Hades boasted. Diana glared at her father, knowing he was going to give Bruce the toughest challenge he could think of. "Mortal! Your challenge is simple enough… all you have to do is to get to the other side of the underworld, gain entrance into my castle and reach my wife Persephone without dying." A giant grin formed on Hades' face as he anxiously waited to witness Batman's demise.

Batman opened his eyes and scanned the environment that surrounded him. He stood on a ledge of a mountain covered in ash and grime. Dark charcoal clouds covered the blood red sky while the scorching red sun and dry hot air made the Sahara Desert feel as cold as the batcave. But the heat was the least of Batman's problems, there was a war going on with every being fighting for themselves. There were demons, monsters, and Greek warriors fighting all over the barren wasteland below him and throughout the skies. Batman quickly realized that it was pointless to wait for the fighting to die down as each being that was killed would revive within an average of ten minutes and continue on. He spotted Hades' fortress about seven miles away. It was a towering building, so high that not even the winged demons and monsters fought above it. The fortress itself had a blend of a dark maddening look to it as well as a bright gentle calmness when viewed in certain angles. Batman figured that the latter part probably had something to do with Persephone's presence within the castle.

"There's no way Bats can get through that by himself!" Flash whispered to Green Lantern.

GL gave Flash a concerned look. "Its all about strategic movement, if anyone can pull this off without powers… it's him."

Shayera shook her head grief. "But these things don't stay down for very long."

Superman glanced at Diana holding onto Donna in utter horror as she saw what Bruce had to do. "If this is what he has to do in round one. I don't think I want to see what the Gods have in store for him in the other rounds…"

Diana couldn't believe her eyes, traveling across the terrain in the underworld was extremely difficult, but to add in an all out war on top of it was suicidal – even for her. The batclan stood there watching without showing any emotion at all, knowing they had to be strong for their leader. Everyone in the room eagerly watched Batman make his moves while listening to his thoughts. It's not everyday that they could actually get to know what goes through his mind during a mission.

"_The suit's temperature control systems should keep me cool enough to work through this mess. Traveling through the air would be quicker… less attention… not by much…very risky… I'll have to do most of this on the ground, avoid as much attention to myself as possible… obviously…Since they can revive, I can be as lethal as necessary._" Batman took out three bat-a-rangs as he studied the closest targets on the ground below him. "_Twenty-one targets… I need to get a hold of their swords… might make this easier._" Batman looked up. "_The sky demons are too far away to batclaw any of them… If I can get to one of them, I might be able to get one to fly me closer to the fortress… might…_" He sees three warriors (one with a light sword, two with axes) and a demon (a gigantic fire sword) fighting somewhat isolated from the rest of the battle. "_NOW!_" Batman threw the three bat-a-rangs, hitting the demon and the two warriors with the axes in the head while jumping towards the warrior with the sword. "_The demon should be stunned for five seconds... at the most… the warriors for ten…_" The warrior with the sword noticed a bat shadow underneath him grow bigger. He looked up only to see Batman land on him while feeling the sudden impact of two fists smashing into the temples of his head, knocking him unconscious. The warrior's body buckles to the ground as Batman takes the sword from him. "_Three seconds…_" Batman quickly jumped over the recovering demon in a somersaulting motion and sliced its head off before continuing to run in the opposite direction.

"WOW! Bats is awesome! I never thought he could fight like this!" Flash whispered.

"That's cause he never fights to KILL!" Nightwing snapped.

"I've always wondered how he'd fight while not holding anything back." Superman glanced towards Diana, never seeing her look this worried before as both Donna and Queen Hippolyta continue to hold her.

Dodging swords, arrows, and axes thrown his way, Batman continued to run towards the fortress while trying to avoid as many confrontations as possible. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a flying demon come from his right, aiming for him. He jumped forward "ACK!" the demon grabbed his cape and took to the sky. "DAMN IT!" Batman looked up and saw that the flying demon was flying away from Hades' fortress. He looked down and saw another flying demon below, without any hesitation, he tugged on his cape with his free hand to turn upside down and placed his feet against the demon's arm. Then without warning, he cut off the demon's hand and pushed off with his legs just before the demon's other hand came swinging down with its own sword aiming for Batman's head. Falling fast, he positioned himself to land on the back of the flying demon directly below him. Just as he was preparing to do so, another demon came and tackled him from behind, causing him to lose his grip on his sword. The demon let him go after the impact, sending Batman barreling into a group of warriors. Batman managed to mentally recover from the hit and attempted to roll as his body hit the rock hard dirt. Fortunately the pack of warriors provided just enough of a cushion to prevent any fatal injuries from occurring. He laid on the floor for a few seconds as his brain assessed the damage as pain shot up and down his back and through his left leg.

"GET UP!" Diana yelled into the cloud as she couldn't stop her tears from flowing uncontrollably.

"Your mortal is pathetic my daughter… how can you choose such a weak and powerless man as your lover?" A satisfied smirk widened on Hades' face.

Diana's eyes burned with a sudden burst of rage. "I'll have your head for this!"

"You have no one to blame for his demise but yourself Diana. It was your carelessness and taste for weak mortals that forced him to be judged before us." Hades sat back into his chair comfortably as his smirk turned into an ear to ear grin.

"It seems her mortal lover is getting up Hades… I think you may have underestimated him." Hera said with a sense of satisfaction at watching Hades look shockingly back into the vision cloud to see Batman on his feet fighting off many warriors.

With a sword in each hand, Batman swiftly and decisively fought off the warriors and demons surrounding him. Suddenly the ground began to shake as if a massive earthquake had hit the underworld. Batman jumped over a demon and continued to run towards the fortress but a giant fire demon rose from the ground. It swiped at him with its massive arm, backhanding him across the field and into another group of demons and warriors. The razor sharp thorns on the forearm of the fire demon cut Batman deeply across his chest. Batman looked down to see the three long deep gashes across the bat symbol as blood ran freely down towards his belt. The giant fire demon got out of the pit it had created and made its way towards Batman. The nearby warriors stopped attacking each other and united against the giant demon, allowing Batman to get onto his feet.

Two more giant fire demons had risen from the ground and begun their own rampage. Knowing he needed to get as far away from these giant monsters as quickly as possible, Batman saw several winged demons flying just low enough for him to grapple onto. Batman took out a batclaw and fired it at one of the flying demons' armor and zipped his way up to it. When he reached the demon, Batman flipped over onto its back while using the batclaw's line as a choke collar to force the demon to fly towards the fortress. The winged demon was tiring out, dramatically decreasing their altitude in the process as they approached the gate surrounding the castle. Batman pulled on the line to force the demon to attempt to fly high enough to make it over the gate. Seeing that the demon wasn't going to make it, Batman forced the demon to crash straight into the gate head first as he jumped off and flipped himself over the gate and into the sacred grounds of the castle. Batman gingerly knelt down on a knee and began to focus on his wounds. He felt a little lightheadedness from the amount of blood he lost, but finally stopped the bleeding.

Just as Batman finished tending to his wounds, he heard three different rhythms of panting followed by three different sets of growls. Batman looked up to see Cerberus standing a few feet away from him. Just as he was about to move, the vicious dog of Hades smacked Batman, sending his body slamming against the magically unforgiving and unbreakable gate with a tremendous amount of force. With his body withering in pain and his vision blurred, Batman forced himself up only to be tackled by the three-headed beast. Its paws pinned his body to the ground, slowly crushing his ribcage while the claws dug deeper into his chest. Batman couldn't move as the three dogs glared at him ready to tear his head off with those gigantically sharp teeth. Not to make any sudden moves, Batman slowly took out a smoke bomb from his belt and tossed it into the mouth of the middle head dog. The dog began choking immediately as it jumped up allowing batman to roll away freely. After getting up, Batman threw another smoke bomb at the dog's feet to temporarily distract it from his presence. He leaned against the gate as fatigue begun to take its toll on his body. Even though Cerberus was unable to see through the smoke, it could still smell Batman's sent as it leaped towards him. Grabbing on to the bars, Batman pulled himself up onto the gate in a crouching position and sprang over Cerberus' heads. Cerberus knocked itself out as all three of its heads missed Batman by inches before brutally crashing into the gate.

Batman saw that the doors were open on the balcony above the main entrance and grappled up onto it. As he climbed over the railing and peered through the doors, he saw the goddess Persephone sitting in her throne waiting for him. Always prepared for the unexpected, Batman cautiously walked in and stood in front of The Goddess of The Underworld. Persephone smirked as she looked up and down Batman's body seeing the wounds, scrapes, and blood that covered him. "Was there something wrong with the door? Or is going through the window a new custom for you mortals?" Batman didn't say anything and continued his stare. "I can see why she loves you. Such a fierce warrior you are. No mortal man without the aid of extraordinary physical abilities has ever gotten pass the gates of Hades. I watched you as you made your way over here and I must admit, I am impressed… you have great determination, pride, resourcefulness, and courage. You will need all of those and more if you are to succeed in your next challenge. Are you ready to proceed?"

Batman took a breath. "Yes" And with a wave of Persephone's hand, they both vanished with a bright light.

"Wow… Bats is awesome. I thought that dog thing was going to eat him for sure." Flash said in amazement.

"I'm just worried that his body won't hold up with all the abuse it's been taking and will take as this continues…" Superman added with a concerned look on his face.

"Hey… he's been through a lot worse than this so far, the only thing that worries me is his remaining supply of weapons… he used quite a bit in round one… I doubt the Gods will let him call a timeout to restock…" Nightwing interjected as he looked towards Robin and Batgirl.

Diana was somewhat relieved that Bruce had passed the first test, but it pained her to see his body take such a beating from it. It will only get worse, normally she would pray to the Gods for his protection, but it was the Gods that were ironically putting him through this. "Don't worry Diana… he will get through this…" Donna said while fixing Diana's hair. Diana hadn't moved since Batman was almost eaten by Cerberus, continuously staring into the vision cloud with an extremely worried look cemented on her face.

"I've never seen Diana in such an emotional wreck…" Shayera whispered to Green Lantern as she gripped his arm.

"Yea I know… I don't want to know what will happen if Batman can't pull this off…" John sighed as he shook his head.

"This mortal is nothing but lucky… that's all he is…" Hades said bitterly, still in disbelief that Batman didn't die in his underworld.

Hera rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Luck has nothing to do with this Hades… you just underestimated him… and your lack of faith in Diana's judgment is tiring."

"Calm down brother… impressive as he was in the first challenge, he still has many more to complete to prove his worthiness… Apollo, begin your challenge." Zeus motioned to the God.

"Yes my King." Apollo quickly disappeared with a flash of light.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Thoughts?


	9. Raining Fire and Arrows

**A/N: **I think it's about time I've updated this, don't you agree? It's pretty challenging to come up with the challenges for Bruce, but I'm pretty sure I know what I have planned for him the rest of the way… I just have to get it on paper.

* * *

><p><strong>Raining Fire and Arrows<strong>

Batman and Persephone appeared on another battlefield filled with trenches and pits as archers and foot soldiers were continuously battling each other. The trenches were miles long in both directions. It seemed that no matter how far he went to either side, the war would still be there. The twilight in the sky made the arrows harder to pick up as they bolted through the air. Just like the warriors in the underworld, these archers and soldiers would revive themselves a few minutes after they were slain.

Batman began to analyze the situation as Apollo appeared in front of him, blocking off his view of the battlefield. "You may return to the throne room Persephone, I shall guide this mortal from here."

"Thank you Apollo." Persephone nodded to Apollo before returning her attention to Batman. "You have indeed earned my respect, as I have no doubt that you'll honor Diana if you do succeed. Although it is forbidden for anyone to interfere, I do wish you good luck on the rest of your journey. With that, I have no problem calling you Batman." Batman bowed to Persephone in thanks for her kind words before watching her disappear.

A bow and arrow magically appeared in Apollo's hands as he shot the arrow between two lanterns at the peak of a small hill. The two lanterns instantly caught fire as the arrow embedded itself into the ground. "Now mortal, the task is very simple… you must find your way past the trenches of the battlefield and through those two flaming lanterns behind the bunker. The battle will stop, and only stop, if you make your way between both lanterns. Do you understand what must be done?"

"Yes" Batman said flatly.

"Very well, this is where I leave you." Apollo vanished as Batman went back to analyzing the battlefield.

"_Great… raining arrows… looks like fifteen trenches separate me from the bunker. From there it looks like a good fifty yards of wide open space separating the bunker from the two lanterns… obviously going up the middle is suicide… will start out on the left… less attention there. Will probably work my way to the right and back over to the left and attack the bunker from there. Must find a way to move as quickly and safely as possible down those fifty yards with no cover… at least the twilight's darkness will give me a little cover while I'm in the trenches._" Batman checked on his wounds once more before taking off.

"Bruce is crazy! There's got to be about a million arrows being launched at him! There's no way he can avoid all of those!" Superman whispered angrily.

"Well he doesn't have a choice now does he…" Shayera stated irritably knowing that every time someone said that Batman couldn't do something made Diana feel worse.

Flash threw his arms up into the air in frustration, extremely upset that his friend had to do such a completely ridiculous mission. "This would be a piece of cake for me… we should ask them to make this a tag team match… I'll run circles around those guys."

"Calm down Wally… have faith…" Donna continued to hold Diana as she was kneeling on the floor, still unable to take her sights off of the vision cloud. "We both know he'll get pass this, just watch." Donna whispered to her big sister.

Robin elbowed Nightwing to get his attention. "You think he's still got it to dodge all of these?"

Nightwing rested his chin on his hand thinking. "The old man's reactions and agility aren't as quick as they once were… as long as fatigue doesn't slow him down any further, he should be ok…"

Batman quickly made his way down towards the first trench, avoiding all the arrows aimed his way. He jumped into the trench and snuck behind two warriors… breaking the one on the right's neck while taking his sword and slicing the other's head off in one motion. Picking up a shield, Batman climbed out of the trench and into the next one while dodging as many arrows as possible and blocking the rest with the shield. Batman continued to methodically make his way through each and every trench, staying low, hiding within the shadows, and taking down warrior after warrior with flawless execution and precision. "_Half way there… need to stay focused… keep moving before they revive and attack me from behind._" Batman forced his body to continue to move in and out of trouble.

"Wow… he's making this look way too easy…" GL said with optimism slowly creeping back into his voice.

"Yea… I just hope his body will hold up." Shayera went over to help Donna comfort Diana.

"This mortal is not half bad… his agility almost rivals that of a Greek Hero." Apollo said as he looked to see Zeus' reaction at what was taking place.

Athena raised her eyebrow in curiosity. "Since this mortal is faring so well against your challenge… I wonder what the agile limits of this mortal actually are."

"Yes indeed… this mortal looks like a Greek Hero." Zeus sat up to get a better view of Batman striking down several foot soldiers at once.

A smirk quickly appeared on Hades' face. "Maybe we should place a catapult or two that launches fireballs directly at him behind the bunker… that would be interesting…"

Hearing that, Diana's grip on Shayera's hand increased to the point where she was almost crushing it. "Hand… Hand!... HAND!" Shayera screamed as Diana quickly realized what she was doing and released her hand.

"Oh… Sorry…" Diana looked down in distraught.

Shayera carefully placed her hand on Diana's shoulder. "It's ok…"

"That's not fair!" Flash angrily shouted. "We can't just stand here and let the Gods try to kill him like this!"

"Quiet Flash, you'll get us in trouble!" GL ordered in a low voice but saw Flash stomp off towards the Gods.

"Hey that's not fair! You guys can't just do that! Are you guys trying to test him or kill him!" Flash threw his hands in the air in disgust.

"SILENCE! You dare attempt to interfere with our judgment?" Zeus was about to smite him for his irritating interruption but Diana quickly grabbed Flash by the collar and yelled at him.

"YOU IDIOT! IF YOU SAY ONE MORE WORD I'LL RIP YOUR LIMBS OFF AND FEED YOU TO CERBERUS MYSELF!" Diana threw him back towards GL. "Make sure he doesn't say another word or I'll break you in half!" No one had ever seen Diana so angry before. Her eyes were bulging out of her head as she clenched her teeth so hard that it wouldn't surprise anyone if they had shattered due to the extreme amount of force she exerted on them.

Still annoyed by Flash's actions, Zeus furiously pointed at him. "For your pitiful friend's annoyance, YOU ALL now share the same fate as The Batman if he fails these trials."

"Well maybe he's right Zeus… it wouldn't be fair to have a catapult or two at the bunker… we better make it five." Hades' smirk turned into an evil giant grin.

"Done. Apollo place five catapults at the bunker with their primary function to kill The Batman." Zeus sat back into his chair as he glared at Flash.

"Yes my King" Apollo quickly waved his hands, and much to Batman's surprise, five catapults appeared on the battlefield.

Everyone turned and glared at Flash. They wanted to kill him for his idiotic outburst that now caused all of them to endure eternal damnation if Batman were to fail. Not to mention he made Batman's task even harder to complete with the extra catapults he now has to avoid.

"You really are an idiot, you know that…" Green Lantern gritted his teeth as he looked at Flash.

"I'm going to KILL YOU!" Shayera leaped at him with her mace in her hand.

Superman quickly stopped her. "Calm down Shayera… Bruce will pull through…"

"I was just trying to help…" Flash said softly, knowing that everyone in the room wanted his head.

"Then shut up." Nightwing said in a flat unemotional tone. "You have unnecessarily raised the stakes in this game. You think everyone in here is mad… just wait until Batman finds out that the price of his failure will not only cost him his life and Diana's happiness… but our lives as well. You're a dead man where you stand." Flash took a big gulp knowing how scary Batman can really be.

"_Five catapults! Damn it…_" Batman leaped out of the trench, just barely avoiding the first giant ball of fire. "_Need to move faster…_" Batman dropped his sword and picked up another shield as the second and third balls of fire came crashing down at him. "_No time to fight… got to keep moving!_" Using both shields to block oncoming arrows, he plowed his way through the many Greek warriors in his way. Many warriors were able to slice Batman along the arms and legs as he didn't have time to maneuver around them with the giant fireballs continuously raining down upon them.

"_Three trenches to go… must keep going._" Batman forced his arms to continue to bash the oncoming warriors within the trenches as another giant fireball came crashing down from above. As he climbed out of the trench and dove out of the giant fireball's way, an arrow went straight through his right shin. "ACK… DAMN IT!" Batman rolled down into the first of the three remaining trenches. Forcing himself to ignore the agonizingly sharp pain in his right leg, he held onto both shields, protecting himself from the warriors that were now hammering away at him. Giving one forceful push, he stunned the warriors long enough to take out a smoke bomb and throw it onto the floor. The smoke distracted them and gave Batman the cover he needed to make his escape, but he couldn't put much weight on his right foot without grimacing in pain. "_It's going to be risky but I don't have a choice, not with another fireball coming soon…_" Batman threw five more smoke bombs towards the bunker and in the last two trenches to help cover him as he took his Batclaw and aimed for the furthest catapult. Still holding onto one shield with his right hand, he quickly zipped towards the catapult. Holding onto the Batclaw left him vulnerable on his left backside as two arrows got him on the left triceps and the left shoulder blade. Just before reaching the bunker, Batman released the batclaw and threw three detonating bat-a-rangs into the bunker's opening as he rolled off of the roof. The bunker exploded just after he jumped off of it and used another batclaw to zip towards the giant lanterns. Finally reaching the lanterns, Batman dove between them as the arrows being shot at him instantly disappeared. The only sound that remained on the battlefield was Batman gasping for air as his lungs were working overtime to supply his body with much needed oxygen.

"Man… I don't know how much more of this he can take…" Superman said nervously.

"I don't know how much more SHE can take…" GL tilted his head towards Diana as they both saw here in tears with Batgirl, Donna, Shayera, and Queen Hippolyta doing everything they could to try to comfort her.

Somewhat impressed, Athena approvingly nodded her head. "This mortal refuses to die… interesting… I have never seen such determination like this from a mortal before…"

"Yes I agree… Artemis, go to the mortal and prepare him for his next challenge." Zeus leaned back into his chair without breaking his concentration on the vision cloud.

"As you wish." Artemis bowed before disappearing.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** I don't know why, but I like picking on Flash. I always remember the scene from the cartoon when he accidentally blows up the side of Wayne Manor. I think he makes a great comic relief at the expense of Batman.


	10. The Dreams of a Silent Knight

**A/N:** Thanks for the support everyone! I guess I should ease up on Flash… but he does make it really easy to throw in some comic relief here and there.

Initially, my first thought was to make these godly challenges extreme because Diana is their favorite. They don't want her to just date anyone… I didn't realize that I made them look like assholes. Haha. I thought about having the gods fight amongst each other, I guess I'll think about it again.

As for "old age" and "powers" I'll let the story unfold and show my views on those subjects. hehe

* * *

><p><strong>The Dreams of a Silent Knight <strong>

Sitting up, Batman pulled the arrows out and tended to his wounds knowing that there would be another task at hand shortly. Artemis appeared just as he finished patching himself up. "Mortal… prepare yourself. Your next challenge awaits." Artemis waved her arms as the trees separated, revealing a path deep into the forest. She then raised her hand up as a giant tree appeared in the distance, towering over everything else. "Your mission is to reach this tree and touch it. Greek hunters and warriors will be lurking within the forest to stop you on your quest. By touching the tree, their pursuit will cease and your mission will be completed." Batman nodded with the understanding of what needed to done and walked onto the path created by the goddess. "This is where I leave you mortal." With a flash of light, Artemis vanished while leaving Batman to himself as the trees closed behind him.

Batman began making his way through the forest. "_So I'm being hunted… great… cover is obviously the number one priority…The trees away from the main path seem like the better way to go._"

"This is bogus! Now they're hunting him? What kind of challenges are these?" Flash whispered to Green Lantern in frustration.

"Relax. There's no one better at keeping himself hidden than Batman." GL said coolly.

"This is the first and only time we'll be able to actually see him work. I always wondered how he does it." Superman said without taking his eyes off the vision cloud. Batman swiftly moved from treetop to treetop, avoiding groups of hunters without much difficulty. Hidden within the shadows that the trees provided, he waited for the perfect time to make his move and continue towards the giant tree. "Amazing" was all Superman could say as everyone watched the Dark Knight.

"The old man is still the best at what he does." Nightwing smirked as he folded his arms across his chest.

"Yea, but not for long." Robin confidently motioned to himself, implying that he was going to take over that title.

Nightwing shook his head while chuckling quietly. "Uhh huhh…" It was only a matter of time before Robin became The World's Greatest Detective. Even Batman acknowledged it, though he would never admit it out loud.

Watching Batman maneuver past the hunters and warriors made Diana feel empowered. He gave her strength, and made her believe that he will defy the odds and succeed. He was fighting for her… for him… for them. Diana stood up, reclaiming her pride as both her tears and quivering ceased. Barbra, Shayera, Donna, and Queen Hippolyta were surprised to see the look of determination on her face as she crossed her arms on her chest and floated up to the vision cloud to watch him. Just by watching Batman work, Diana's heart rate easily calmed down while her breathing returned back to normal. Diana couldn't explain it, but she could feel his presence, feel his strength, and just watching him sneak through the forest undetected made her believe that he was giving her the strength she needed to be strong. If she could feel his presence during this stressful time, then surely he could feel hers. Diana forced herself to focus and give Bruce the extra strength to carry on.

"He looks like was ten years ago." Nightwing said with a sense of pride for his mentor.

Batgirl nodded as she watched in amazement. "Yea, it's been a long time since I've seen him move like that."

"Stealth was never a problem for him… it's the fighting and quick reactions…" Robin leaned side to side, casually stretching out his back. Both Nightwing and Batgirl acknowledged Robin's view of him. After all, he did spend the most time with Batman fighting in Gotham the past few years, and if anyone knew if he had lost a step or two, it was Robin.

On the other side of the cloud, the Gods were impressed with Batman's stealth abilities. "Artemis… how many warriors and hunters did you place within the forest?" Zeus asked as he scratched his beard.

"One hundred each my King… this mortal's hunting ability matches that of a Greek Hero… impressive…" Artemis replied.

Hera looked over to Diana, seeing her strenuously focusing on Batman's activity. "Yes indeed… but should we be so surprised by his abilities? After all Diana did choose him herself."

"My King, the mortal has made it to the edge of the open field." Artemis announced as everyone quickly turned their attention back to the cloud.

Hidden in the shadows Batman crouched on a branch of a tree that lined the perimeter of the large open field of grass with the gigantic tree in the center. There were close to fifty additional warriors and hunters guarding the tree.

"_No cover whatsoever from here to the tree… about fifty yards… need a distraction. The warriors aren't a problem, but the arrows from the hunters are._" Batman took out a charged bat-a-rang, sprayed a thick layer of explosive gel on it and threw it along the perimeter to another tree. He quietly made his way to the opposite end of the field and detonated it. All the warriors and hunters looked over at the explosion while most ran over to wait for any sight of Batman. He quickly took out a batclaw and shot it at the giant tree. As he zipped towards it, he threw smoke bombs to cover himself along with several explosive bat-a-rangs that were set to explode on impact to take out nearby hunters.

Just as he was about to reach the tree, an arrow cut his line, sending him crashing down just feet in front of the tree. Batman got up quickly and ran to the tree when something grabbed his cape, stopping him as his fingers were just inches away. He turned to see that a warrior was holding onto his cape just as another one tackled him to the ground. Putting Batman in a strangle hold, the warrior stood Batman up in front of him waiting for the hunters to shoot him in the chest with their arrows. Just as the arrows were launched, Batman quickly flipped over the warrior who held him, and jumped off his back as the arrows hit the warrior in the chest. Fighting his way towards the tree, Batman used the warriors' own bodies as shields from the dozens of arrows that came darting through the air. Suddenly all the warriors and hunters that were within the forest were surrounding Batman. He couldn't continue to fight all of them… there were too many. He needed to get to the tree now… Batman took out his last explosive bat-a-rang and threw it at the ground before leaping over a warrior and using his shoulders as a springboard to jump higher into the air. The bat-a-rang exploded, propelling Batman into the tree with a loud thud.

He hit the tree harder than he would have liked, as his back hit the tree's trunk so hard that if it wasn't for the Kevlar reinforced armor, his back would have shattered. Coughing up blood, he rolled over to take inventory of his new injuries. "_Internal bleeding… great… must not take anymore hits to the body… can't afford anymore damage…_" There was silence... nothing… Batman saw that all the warriors and hunters were gone. All that was left was him and the intense pain shooting up and down his spine.

"That crazy idiot! He almost blew himself up!" Shayera whispered angrily.

Robin chuckled as a smirk on his face. "Hah… you call that blowing yourself up? That puny explosion is nothing compared to what he normally goes through. You should have seen the explosion he was in a week ago…"

"The amount of pain and suffering that Batman can take continues to amaze me… I've never seen any one man take the beatings he's taken in his life and continue to fight on…" J'onn said with great respect for Batman.

"Aphrodite…" Still sitting, Zeus held his chin up with his right hand and motioned towards Batman with the other. Without saying anything Aphrodite waved her hands as three beautiful nymphs appeared next to Batman.

Lying on the grass waiting for his next challenge to be revealed, he noticed someone massaging his legs. He looked down to see three very beautiful nymphs sitting next to him with seductive smiles on their faces. He tried to get up and stop them… but it felt so good…. His body failed him, his muscles failed to respond to his brain. Their soft gentle hands rubbing all over his body, relaxing his tense and battered muscles, numbing his wounds and taking the pain away. One then mounted him and started massaging his chest, whispering in his ear "Stay with us… we will pleasure you like you never felt before… no more pain… only pleasure and happiness for the world's greatest hero…" Batman started to daze into bliss… his mind began to see images of nothing but joyful memories while his heart warmed to the point at which he could do nothing but grin stupidly.

"Damn… three beautiful ladies all to himself forever? How does Bats get all the luck?" Flash said jealously.

"You moron… if he doesn't snap out of it, he will be trapped there forever and fail…" Donna snapped.

Flash elbowed Green Lantern. "Still not a bad way to go out huh…" GL gave a quick smile but then noticed that Shayera heard them and patted her mace while give him a glare.

Diana clenched her jaw tighter than ever while her hands were balled into fists so tight that her own nails were cutting into her palms. Her blood boiling with anger, eyes bulging, rage building up… she was ready to explode. She knew he was being placed under a spell by them, but just seeing him being seduced by the three nymphs just made her want to rip their heads off for even touching her man.

"Diana? Don't worry… Br…Bruce will snap out of it… I mean… after all those stories you told me about him dealing with that Scarecrow guy and the Poison Ivy lady… this is no different… he has the strongest mind of anyone I know…" Donna said cautiously as she floated next to Diana. Knowing that Diana could easily lose it and start tearing the place apart, she blew out a sigh of relief when she saw Diana's face. Diana had closed her eyes and regained her composure.

"I know Donna… he will snap out of this… but I'm still going to kill those nymphs after this is over…" Diana crossed her arms and glared at Batman. "He better snap out of it soon or I'll kill him too."

The nymphs continued to kiss and massage him, planting happy thoughts in his head. "Tell us what you want Batman… we can make you happy for eternity… you'll have everything you need… tell us… stay with us…love us…"

Batman's mind fought desperately for control, trying to resist the nymphs' spells. "I… want… I…I… love… DIANA! No! Won't let you stop me. Must…" Before Batman could finish, one nymph kissed him deeply while another massaged the temples of his head putting him deeper into their control. "Yes… I'll stay... yes… love… love… stay forever…" Batman said with another stupid grin on his face.

The nymphs continued their seduction of Batman. "Yes… tell us your fantasies… your dreams and desires… we will make them happen…. What does Batman dream about?"

"_What… what does Batman dream about…_" Instantly, flashes of his parents lying dead on the floor of the alley ran through his head. His eyes opened wide and that stupid grin left his face. His obsession of bringing vengeance back into the streets of Gotham forced himself to remember who he is and overrode their control of lust and love. Pushing them off of him, he stood up with his mind clear and focused. "This is over… you will not control me." Grinding his teeth in anger as the only image in his head now was that of the punk with the gun who shot his parents down that fateful night.

Flash was shocked at what Batman had lived through as a child. "Wow… is that why Bats is so mad all the time? Man… I had no idea…"

"He doesn't share much about his past. I don't think many people know…" GL said sympathetically.

"Yea I've known Bruce for a long time… he never likes to talk about it, trust me… never bring it up when you talk him." Superman added.

"Athena… I believe it's your turn." Zeus sat up motioning for her to present Batman with his next challenge.

Batman turned his back to the nymphs and began to walk away. "How dare you! No one refuses us! NO ONE!" The floor began to tremble as Batman struggled to regain his balance. He turned around to see a giant rock creature come out from under the ground facing him.


	11. Refusing to Die

**A/N: **Thanks for the reviews! I never get tired of hearing all of your thoughts. Please feel free to leave a review if you like, it's always greatly appreciated.

* * *

><p><strong>Refusing to Die<strong>

Standing over fifteen feet high, the rock creature stared into Batman's eyes. The creature's eyes were round jagged black rocks that only produced the look of a stone cold killer. Its only mission was clear, kill Batman. The sounds of rock crumbling and grinding against itself every time the creature moved would normally send a chill down anyone's spine. The creature roared in rage as it threw its fists up in the air before lowering its head to charge at Batman. Just before colliding into him, Batman leaped above the rock giant and punched it in the back of the head while landing behind it.

"_Damn it… better not do that again. Even with Kevlar reinforcements, that almost broke my hand… I'm out of explosive bat-a-rangs… I need to think of a way to beat this thing…_" Batman continued to dodge and avoid the creature's attacks knowing that a direct blow would probably break every bone in his body. "_There's got to be a way… I can't continue to dodge his attacks forever… his head… he better not be one of those regenerating types…_"

Batman took out the explosive gel as he continued to avoid the creature's massive attacks. "_If I can spray this around its neck, I should be able to blow its head off._" Each time the rock giant swung at him, Batman jumped onto its back and sprayed a little area on its neck, creating a thick ring of gel. "_Almost done… just need to get that last spot underneath the chin…_" Batman leaped onto the creature's back and sprayed the last area needed to complete the ring. Just as he finished, the creature backhanded Batman, hitting him along the right shoulder blade and sending him clear across the open field. Lying on the ground in tremendous pain, Batman was struggling to see clearly as his vision became blurred. His right shoulder was shattered, he couldn't move his arm as pain shot up and down his whole entire body.

Forcing himself to regain his vision, Batman saw that the creature was making its way over to him to finish him off. Batman rolled over and looked at his right hand, were the explosive gel spray gun/detonator should have been – gone. Seeing that he lost all voluntary movement in his right arm and hand the instant the rock giant hit him, Batman's head quickly shot up to the area where he was hit. There it was… lying on the ground. All he had to do was get to it and detonate the gel… but his body refused to move. The giant was getting close and Batman still couldn't get to his feet.

"GET UP! GET UP! GET UP! DAMN IT BRUCE! GET UP!" Diana lost her composure after seeing Batman being hit by the rock giant. Tears began running down her cheeks again as Shayera flew up to help Donna comfort her. Everyone in the room knew that Batman's shoulder was shattered and that he was in tremendous pain.

"I've never seen Bats take a hit like that…" Flash said quietly in shock.

"I know… but he'll get up… he always does…" Green Lantern looked over at Superman "He IS going to get up Superman…"

"I can't believe how many times we took his abilities for granted. Everything he does… he's the most vulnerable member with no extraordinary powers to support him, and yet… he is the only one I never have to worry about on the battlefield because of who he is. Ironically danger always seems to find him no matter how careful he may be, and he still manages to get through it. It's his amazing iron will that allows him to do this… but his body has taken its toll over the years and it can't keep up… he's right…as always… he will either have to retire, or someone will finally manage to kill him…" Superman sighed, knowing the inevitable truth was being displayed for everyone in the room to witness.

Nightwing and Robin stood as they had been since the trials begun, not showing any hint of emotion pain whatsoever. They both reminded Superman of Batman. Shayera and Donna finally managed to get Wonder Woman to come back down and rejoin Batgirl and Queen Hippolyta. Wonder Woman continued to scream at Batman, pleading for him to get up.

Finally regaining some control over his body, Batman weakly stood up as the creature was a few steps away from striking distance. Batman took out his last remaining smoke bomb and threw it at the ground just as the giant was about to strike. Batman dodged the giant's massive arm and made his way towards the detonator. He picked up the detonator and looked over at the rock giant. The creature roared mightily and charged towards Batman as he detonated the gel. After the massive explosion, a huge cloud of smoke and rock dust surrounded the giant's body.

Thunderous footsteps continued to echo throughout the field as the rock giant continued to charge out of the cloud. Batman looked up to see that the creature's neck was now only a few inches thick. The gel didn't completely decapitate the giant. He dodged the giant's attempt to tackle him and kicked its head as hard as he could without shattering his leg. The giant's head snapped off and rolled to the side while the body slammed onto the ground. Batman stood there for a minute to make sure that the creature wouldn't revive itself before collapsing on to the ground in complete exhaustion. His entire body was in pain, the shattered shoulder, the gigantic bruise now appearing on his right shin, probably a fractured right tibia as well, and the extreme fatigue from everything that has gone on. He couldn't move. Not any more.

"Impressive… this mortal clearly refuses to die my King." Athena said with amazement.

"Yes indeed… but the trials aren't finished yet. We still have some more challenges for him. Hermes… bring the mortal to his next challenge." Zeus motioned as he looked on at the exhausted Batman. Hermes respectfully bowed to Zeus before going off to meet Batman.

Hermes appeared to see an exhausted Batman lying on the ground. Batman slowly got to his feet knowing another challenge was about to begin. "Mortal… your next task is to make your way to the peak of Mt. Olympus… you will endure extreme terrains and weather changes that will test the limits of your endurance's capacity like never before." With a wave of his hand they appeared at the base of Mt. Olympus. The mountain was enormous as it towered into the sky beyond the clouds and into what seemed like space itself. "No special gadgets or any special abilities may be used on this journey. Mortals who wish to reach the top may only do so by going along the path presented. There will be no creatures or beings that will stop you. You will go as far as your will and body takes you… many mortals have died along the way, as you will see their fallen bodies along the trail. Once at the top, you will see the entrance to the royal palace. Once you open the doors, this task will be completed. This is where I will leave you. I shall see you again if you make it to the top." Hermes vanished with a flash of light as Batman took a deep breath and slowly began walking up the seemingly endless trail.

"Are they serious? He has to make it all the way to the top in his condition? No way! That's suicide!" Flash angrily hissed.

"I know… we just got to hope that he's too stubborn to die now…" Green Lantern said.

"How long does it normally take for someone to walk up to the top of Mt. Olympus?" Superman asked Queen Hippolyta.

"Not sure, no pure mortal has ever made it to the top…" Queen Hippolyta admitted hesitantly, knowing her answer made Diana go deeper into her depression. She didn't like how a man was the root of all of her daughter's troubles, but Queen Hippolyta also knew how much Diana had to love him to be in this kind of pain. It wasn't the Amazon way to be in such an emotional wreck, and Diana had never shown any signs of weakness in her entire life up to this point. Being an Amazon Warrior and loving a man isn't technically a weakness, but seeing her like this easily made it look like it was.

Queen Hippolyta realized long ago that Diana would eventually fall in love with a man if she stayed in man's world long enough. She was initially skeptical about Diana's choice, but decided to trust her daughter's judgment. At least she picked an iconic hero of the Earth and not just some random insignificant man. Batman reminded her of Hades… dark, brooding, mysterious, and arrogant. She wondered why Hades has had a more difficult time accepting Batman, they're so much alike, and yet… so different. Fortunately it was a good different. He was so resourceful, so methodical, so intelligent… Batman was a true warrior in every aspect of its definition. He quickly proved that to her when he went through Hades as a pure mortal and survived. Everything else after that just reinforced her belief in that Diana's decision in choosing the greatest warrior in man's world to be her mate was the right one. It also calmed her nerves to see that Donna was supporting Batman as well. But Queen Hippolyta wouldn't hesitate to make Batman suffer a fate worse than death if he somehow managed to hurt her little sun and stars in any way.

There was nothing any of the heroes could do but to watch Batman slowly make his way along the path. With his shoulder still shattered and his body extremely fatigued, he could only gingerly limp up the mountain at a slow constant pace. Batman tore off part of his cape to make a sling for his right arm and used an edge of one of his bat-a-rangs to make a walking stick from a fallen tree branch he found on the ground. It was painfully nerve-racking to watch him endure his way to the top. Everyone watched him as he looked like he would collapse at any moment only to see him continue to take another step forward. What made it worse was that all his wounds didn't stop bleeding. The bandages were falling off as they were thoroughly soaked in blood.

Diana couldn't bear to watch Bruce suffer like this, but she couldn't take her eyes off of him. She had to watch him. She had to go through everything he was going through. Diana wanted to be there for him… with him… she needed him. After going through all this, she couldn't imagine being without him. If she were to lose him, she wouldn't know what she would do. It was one of Bruce's reasons why they shouldn't begin a relationship. Diana never liked to think about the inevitable… that he would eventually die… and what she would do after he passed. But she accepted the inevitable because she was going to make sure that he was going to die from a natural peaceful death… not by some crazy evil idiot bent on mass destruction or world domination. Then, she would have created a lifetime of memories with him to look back on and reminisce. She always forced her mind to stay in the present, just the two of them day by day. After this, she was definitely going to cherish every minute with him and do everything she can to make sure he's safe.

No one said much as Batman continued his journey. There wasn't much to say… everyone knew what must be done and they all were powerless to help. No one took Batman's mortality issues harder than Diana except for the batclan. After all, Bruce was a father to both Dick and Tim while his influence on Barbra was match only by her own father's. Dick and Bruce had their differences but they were always there for each other when one needed the other the most. Dick knew Bruce would one day retire from being Batman and that he would have a contingency plan for it. He would want someone to take on the mantle of being The Dark Knight and continue his work. It wasn't that Dick didn't want to be Batman. He was perfectly fine being Nightwing. It was just that Bruce is and will forever be Batman… it wouldn't seem right for anyone else to take his place. Of course, if anyone were to take his place it would have to be either him or Tim… Dick knew Tim had spent the most time with Bruce, and that he even thought like him more so than anyone else. He knew that Tim's detective skills were close to matching Bruce's and that if anyone could put on the persona of Batman, it would be him. But for Tim to become Batman, he would have to wait until he was older and have his body grow into being Batman. It would be very odd to have Batman be a foot shorter all of the sudden.

Tim just refused to imagine Gotham without his boss. He knew there would come a time where Bruce would have to retire. But to him, that meant that it was a giant step closer to having evil take control over Gotham. Just like Batman needs a Robin, Gotham needs Bruce as Batman. Bruce pretty much had been training both Tim and Dick to one day become The Dark Knight. Tim felt that either of them could take on the mantle of Batman and live up to Bruce's standards. However, it was Bruce's presence that was irreplaceable. Just knowing that Bruce was around made everything go as well as it possibly could. Of course there were times when nothing went right and tragedy struck, but with Bruce there, it wouldn't get any worse. Bruce's presence provided a safety net and a sense of confidence that allowed Tim to take on the villains of Gotham every night.

Barbra felt the same way. Patrolling Gotham would never be the same again once Bruce retired. Like the rest, she knew one day they would all have to retire but that didn't make it any easier. She understood it all, everything… logically everything made sense and she was ok with that. It wasn't anything unexpected, but Barbra just couldn't stop the pain embedded within her heart. For now however, she just wished that Bruce would pass this trial and come back alive.

Everyone continued to watch Batman make his way up the mountain with a long trail of blood following him. The wait was agonizingly long and emotionally draining. When Batman was within the last several feet from the top, his feet were numb and bleeding, legs aching, back in pain, and now the right shoulder had swelled to twice its normal size. Batman has never been so tired and fatigued in his entire life. He stumbled to the doors and leaned against it with a sigh of relief. He made it. With no energy left to attempt to open the doors, Batman sat against the doors for a few minutes to recover the little amount of strength he could get.

"I don't know how he does it… where does he get the energy to do all this?" Superman asked out loud to no one in particular.

"If you told me Batman was just a human with no powers I would not have believed you. It is truly amazing to watch him do the things he does." J'onn said softly.

"Well he is Batman after all… did you guys expect anything less?" Shayera said with a sigh of relief knowing the happiest and most relieved person in the room was Diana.

Everyone's attention turned back to the vision cloud as Batman rose to his feet. Having gathered enough energy to continue, he pulled the door open only to be shocked and completely unprepared for what stood before him. Batman fell back onto the ground with a loud thud as the infamous object hit him in the chest. He didn't expect this. Anything but this…

All the heroes watching dropped their jaws in horror. They couldn't believe what had just happened to Batman. It was unreal. He can't fail like this… it wasn't fair. Not after what he just went through to get here. But there he was… with a bullet in his chest… shot at point blank range with the sounds of that horrific laughter in the air. His laughter… that unmistakable, unforgiving, cruel, psychotic laughter that will never be forgotten by any member of the batclan.

The Joker laughing with that evil sadistic grin on his face… standing over Batman as he squirmed. He had finally shot Batman. "What's this? One shot and you're down and out already? How disappointing… I'd laugh if you weren't so pathetic… oh what the hell… I'll laugh anyways…" Joker pointed the gun at Batman's head as he began laughing.

Hearing Joker's annoying laughter made Batman lose it. Anger boiled throughout his veins… something about The Joker had always fueled and ignited his rage while testing his ability to stay level-headed. With his rage creating a new source of energy, Batman sprang up and pummeled The Joker. It didn't matter that he was physically drained or that he only had one useable arm. Joker wasn't a fighter. It didn't take much to beat him up as he repeatedly pummeled The Joker until the he could no longer move. Batman stood over The Joker's beaten and bloody body with a glare of hatred. He used up all the possible energy that his adrenaline could muster up. The external and internal bleeding were taking their toll on him. It took all of his concentration to continue to stand as his body was on the verge of collapsing. Batman looked down at his chest, seeing the bullet lodged within the heavily reinforced Kevlar. "_Damn… good thing I added an extra layer of Kevlar on the bat symbol a month ago._" The Bullet had missed the open slashes exposing his flesh by half an inch. He picked up the gun hoping that this challenge was over now that The Joker was defeated… waiting for some sort of conclusion, he stood there only to see The Joker attempting to laugh through the pain of a few broken ribs, a broken jaw, broken arms, and a broken nose.

"Your success in this final trial lies within that gun in your hand and the choice on the one called The Joker's life. You have five minutes to decide both your fate as well as The Joker's." Zeus' voice loudly rang through the air as a giant sand timer appeared next to the both of them.

"I can't believe it… that's not fair! He has to decide whether or not to kill The Joker to win? With a gun of all things? He can't do it! He won't…" Batgirl angrily shouted.

"Do you think he will do it?" Superman asked hesitantly.

Green Lantern rubbed his forehead uncomfortably. "I… I… don't know… but he has no choice… he… he's… I just don't know…"

"He won't. Batman won't kill. Period. Not even The Joker." Nightwing said in a flat toned voice without any hesitation.

Diana could only look on with tears streaming down her face. The horror of seeing him shot at point blank range rattled her. She couldn't take it anymore… her emotions took over. All she could do was watch and pray to hold him in her arms again.

"Heh… Hah… Ha… Bats won't kill me whoever you are… If he was into that kind of fun… he would have done it years ago… looks like… you lose… again… Bats… Hah… Heh… HA" Joker said with amusement as he spat out blood.

Batman clenched his jaw in profound anger and punched Joker in the head, knocking him out. Batman angrily threw the gun away as he watched the sand timer run down. "I'm sorry Diana… I can't do it… I won't…"

Watching the last bits of sand trickle down, Batman refused to give in from his extreme exhaustion. He was going to end this standing on his feet. As the last grain of sand hit the bottom, Batman disappeared as a bright flash of light made its way through the palace's courtyard.


	12. Aftermath

**A/N:** Sorry about the recent cliff hangers! I didn't mean to drive you guys crazy. Athena's challenge was the rock giant. I thought about going through more challenges but I don't think Batman could realistically take much more without dieing in the process. After all, he's only human. There's a particular god I intentionally left out, but I'll come back to that at another time.

* * *

><p><strong>Aftermath<strong>

Batman appeared in front of the Gods and heroes. Everyone now understood that the last challenge wasn't about killing The Joker, but to test Batman's morals. He vowed to never kill and uphold true justice… they wanted to see if he would crack under the pressure of possibly facing eternal damnation and the loss of Diana's love. Diana's eyes widened with surprise and excitement as she was about to zoom up to Bruce and hold him in her arms as Zeus spoke. "CONGRATULATIONS MORT…."

Batman collapsed onto the floor in mid-sentence. No one said a word as Diana rushed to his side and began shaking him. She pulled off his cowl and begged him to open his eyes and say something… anything… As the rest of the heroes surrounded them, Hades unemotionally announced "Batman is dead" Bruce's body had finally given out. He had lost too much blood while his internal bleeding flooded his vital organs.

"NO! HE'S NOT DEAD! BRUCE! YOU'RE NOT DEAD! NO! NO! NO!" Diana refused to believe that Bruce was dead as she held him in her arms desperately trying to wake him. Her tears were flowing down her face like never before. "He just can't be dead. He did everything you asked of him. He passed. He succeeded. He can't leave me like this. Not like this. Please Hera no… I beg of you… not like this… he can't die like this! Please don't take him away from me!" Diana refused to move away from him.

Queen Hippolyta and Donna kept trying to comfort Diana, but she wouldn't listen. Diana was traumatized as the image of Bruce collapsing repeated over and over again. The batclan stood there watching in disbelief. Not knowing what to do or what to say, all they could do was watch Diana cry uncontrollably while holding his dead body in her arms. Their leader, mentor, and father was dead… and there was nothing that they could do about it.

J'onn's eyes glowed as he analyzed Bruce's body. "He is truly dead… he was supposed to have died near the beginning of the mountain challenge. However, it was his unparalleled determination and sheer will that allowed him to refuse death for as long as he did."

Superman, still trying to comprehend what was going on shook his head in disbelief. "No… it's impossible… it can't be… he's Bruce… he's Batman…"

"He was going to marry her John…" Shayera squeaked out as she cried in Green Lantern's arms. Green Lantern couldn't believe it. It was Batman that helped him get through his own love life problems with Shayera. He knew life wasn't fair, but this was ridiculous… and yet he was powerless to do anything to help as he lost one of his closest friends. Batman always had the worst luck imaginable.

"No way… Bats can't die! Can't the Gods bring him back? Don't they have like the incredible power to bring him back?" Flash said desperately to Queen Hippolyta. Just then, everyone except Diana looked up towards the Gods in hopes of them bringing back The Dark Knight.

Zeus shook his head in disappointment "Even though he completed the trials, he still died FROM them. It is contractually determined that we cannot resurrect anyone who has died from the Trials. We have never foreseen this, as this situation has never happened before. We ourselves are surprised by the events that have taken place."

"NO! Bring him back! I'll give anything to have him back, anything! Please Hera! Please!" Diana pleaded as she still wouldn't let Bruce go, holding him as close to her as possible.

"I am truly sorry Diana… as we see it… there is nothing we can do to bring him back. It pains me deeply to see you in this kind of pain as you do not deserve it… I am so sorry Diana." Hera said softly knowing that everything she had said put Diana deeper into her depression.

"For whatever it's worth my daughter, the mortal has earned my respect as a warrior. But unfortunately… it is time to move his body to the underworld… I shall see to it that he will not suffer as he resides in my fortress." Hades solemnly said as he stood up.

"No… No… please don't take him from me! Please… I love him… please no…" Diana voiced cracked as she pleaded and sobbed simultaneously.

Hades waved his hand as the body slowly disappeared from Diana's grasp. "I am so truly sorry Diana…"

"NO! NO! BRING HIM BACK! PLEASE! BRUCE!" Her tears running off her face as she broke down holding Batman's cowl. Donna came and held her sister as she cried with her.

Zeus shook his head in grief. "Hermes, unfortunately our business is done here… please send all of them back."

With a flash of white light, all the heroes were placed in the middle of the league's embassy as Hermes gave his condolences to Diana and Queen Hippolyta before leaving them. The rest of the leaguers where shocked to see Wonder Woman covered in blood and broken down crying uncontrollably. No one knew what had happened and began to crowd around Wonder Woman. Before anyone could ask questions as to why Wonder Woman was in such deep despair or why Shayera, Donna, and Batgirl were crying, Superman told Flash, Green Lantern, Nightwing, and Robin to move them to Wonder Woman's quarters as quickly as possible.

J'onn gave out a telepathic league wide announcement. "_Will everyone please don't disturb Wonder Woman and gather in the main hub for an immediate emergency mandatory meeting._"

Seeing that the few who were actually close to Batman had the right to hear the regrettable news first, J'onn summoned Zatanna, Black Canary, and The Huntress to meet him in front of Diana's quarters. With Queen Hippolyta and Donna taking care of Diana inside her room, the original members along with the batclan stood outside as the three ladies came down the hall.

"What is going on? What do you think they want with us?" Black Canary asked The Huntress.

"I have no idea… we better not be in trouble again… I'm tired of all their stupid rules." The Huntress growled.

"I don't think we're in trouble… especially if they wanted us to meet them in front of Diana's room… I think it may have something to do with her." Zatanna said as they walked up to the founding members.

Nightwing stepped in front of the group to meet the three of them. His face was full of grief as the rest of the members couldn't even look at them in the eye.

"What's going on? What happened to Wonder Woman?" Black Canary asked, now growing concerned.

Nightwing's tone was flat and low. "We felt that you three have the right to know first before we told the entire league what had happened today."

"Uhh… you know I'm really not all that close to Wonder Woman…" The Huntress crossed her arms over her chest waiting for this big news to come out.

Nightwing's white screened eyes narrowed. "It about Bruce… Helena" Instantly the three ladies' eyes widened with shock as they knew something terrible had happened. Nightwing would never have said his name. Never… Nightwing took a deep breath before continuing. "He's dead…"

"WHAT! NO WAY!" Zatanna shouted. "That's impossible he can't be dead! He can't be!"

"THAT'S NOT FUNNY! There's no way he's dead!" Black Canary began to cry as Helena could only stand shocked in disbelief. The three could only grieve as Nightwing told them what had happened.

After Nightwing finished, they all followed Superman to the main hub while leaving Queen Hippolyta and Donna with Wonder Woman. They all stood in the center of the hub as Superman announced Batman's death to the league.

It had been five days since Batman died and no one took it harder than Diana. She spent the entire time crying in her quarters, lying in her bed holding Bruce's cowl. It was all she had left of him. Diana knew she loved Bruce deeply, but she didn't realize how much he meant to her until now. She had lost everything. Diana lost Bruce… her Bruce. He was her everything: her best friend, her confidant, the love of her life, her husband to be, her home, her happiness, her life… and she lost it all. Her whole world was destroyed.

Queen Hippolyta and Donna continued to look after her since Bruce's death while everyone else tried to comfort her as best they could. Diana's response was minimal, if at all. She refused to move, she stayed curled up in her bed staring at the cowl in her hand crying despite the greatest efforts of Superman, Shayera, Flash, Green Lantern and J'onn. Diana's traumatized trance was so disheartening that it was contagious, every leaguer started feeling depressed from the situation.

The only time Diana left her room was to attend Batman's funeral three days after his death. Since it was Batman's, it was held in the embassy's main hub. It wasn't held in Gotham because it would have raised too many questions with both Bruce Wayne's sudden disappearance and Batman's death. Nightwing, Robin, and Batgirl spent most of their time trying to cover up Bruce's apparent absence. They bought themselves a couple of weeks with a report that Bruce was on vacation. Every member of the league as well as everyone in the bat family attended the ceremony. It was when Diana tried to give her speech on Bruce that she broke down and cried uncontrollably. The funeral was too much for her to handle as she couldn't force herself to go through it. That was the last time she cried, there weren't anymore tears of despair left for her to cry out as she remained lying in her bed holding onto his cowl.

"It's been five days… we have to find a way to help her… this isn't healthy." Superman said to the other founding members along with the batclan in front of Wonder Woman's room.

Flash rubbed his forehead in grief. "But how can we? Nothings getting through to her… she won't listen to anyone…"

"Diana is grieving… it takes time Superman… death of a loved one is never easy to get over…she's in terrible pain." J'onn glanced at the door before looking at Nightwing.

"I think I found someone she'll listen to…" Nightwing turned towards Zatanna. "You're the one Bruce trusted the most in dealing with his feelings for Diana. You knew what went through both Bruce's and Diana's minds more than anyone. Do whatever you can Zee."

"Uhh… I'll try… but I don't know what to tell her that all of you already haven't said…" Zatanna scratched her head, unsure of her ability to get through to Diana.

Shayera went and opened Wonder Woman's door ushering both Queen Hippolyta and Donna out. "Do whatever it takes… no matter what… we have to get her out of it. We need her back."

"Please do what you can to bring my daughter back to me." Queen Hippolyta squeezed Zatanna's arm with her right hand while wiping her tears away with the other.

"I'll do my best." Zatanna took a deep breath and went in to see Diana. The room was dark and bare with only a small little lamp on her night stand, providing just enough light to see the room. All her armor and weapons that weren't already moved into the manor were stashed away along with her paintings. It looked nothing like the room she had seen before when Diana asked her to visit all those times and talk about Bruce. As she looked around, she saw Diana on her bed curled up center of the room. She was lying on her left side staring at Bruce's cowl in her right hand that rested on top of her pillow. Her face was emotionless and tear stained. Zatanna pulled up a chair and sat next to Diana on the side of her bed. Diana didn't acknowledge her at all. It was heart breaking… seeing Diana in so much pain made Zatanna start to cry.

"Di… Diana…" Zatanna didn't know where to start or how to say whatever she was supposed to say. "Diana… I know you're hurting… I miss him too…" This was hopeless… Zatanna couldn't think of anything to say. She knew Bruce would hate to see her like this… Zatanna's eyes widened for an instant as she remembered what Bruce wanted. What he refused to do, knowing what could happen. "Diana… please… you can't torture yourself like this. You're stronger than this, I know you are… Bruce wouldn't want to see you like this. Especially since you told him… promised him… that he couldn't hurt you like this if and when he died. He refused to be in a relationship with you for this very reason…"

Diana's eyes quickly shot up at Zatanna, stopping her from continuing. It frightened her. Diana's face was filled with anger and rage as she clenched her fist while still holding onto his cowl. Zatanna gulped down her fear as she saw Diana sit up and give her a glare like she never seen before. It was worse than even Bruce's greatest glare, not that his glares actually affected her… but Diana's scared the crap out of her. The thought of Diana punching her through the wall probably helped.

"He didn't die Zatanna. He was TAKEN from me. He went through Hades, Tartarus, everything… passed them all. He almost died more times than my heart would allow me to see. All for what? To be congratulated by the Gods and die right then and there? He didn't even die an honorable death! No! Not even a hero's death. There was no honor in the way he died. He bled to death in my arms. BLED TO DEATH! He did everything… everything… that was asked of him only to die a dishonorable death." Diana stood up, not taking her eyes of Zatanna. Zee could only nervously look back and wait for her to continue.

"He was taken from me…. Taken away and killed before my very eyes. They took him away from me… and with him, they took everything from me. He's my whole world. He means everything to me... he IS everything to me. I need him… I love him… he's my life... when he died, so did I…" Tears started to roll down Diana's face as she closed her eyes and took a breath. "When Batman died, Wonder Woman died, just as Diana died when Bruce died… there's nothing left. Nothing matters anymore… I am nothing…"

Diana went back to her bed and into the same curled up position that she was in before. "Please Zee… I need to be alone…"

With a new understanding, Zatanna nodded and slowly made her way to the door. She was met with many pairs of eager eyes waiting in anticipation to know what had happened. "Did you get her to snap out of it?" Flash asked desperately.

Queen Hippolyta shook Zatanna's arm. "Yes, please tell me what's happening with my daughter!"

"I… I… got her to speak… he's… he was her whole world. He meant everything to her… and now… she's lost the will to live…" Zatanna said weakly not knowing what else to say. Everyone hung their heads in grief believing that there wasn't any way to bring Diana back.

"NO! I refuse to let her spend the rest of her life like this! My daughter is stronger than this!" Queen Hippolyta violently shook her head as tears streamed down her cheeks. "I will not allow her to continue to suffer like this!" She stormed into Diana's room as the rest followed in hopes that they would one day see that bright and beautiful smile back on Diana's face once again.


	13. Her World

**A/N:** After talking to some of you I realized that this seemed kind of rushed… I think I got carried away and wanted to see how this story ended too… but I didn't really see a real need to actually show how Bruce convinced the gods to make him a Greek Champion in detail. That goes the same with Diana's issues during his death. Also, I personally don't like dragging things out for too long. That's my mistake. Great stories always have great details. I may do several "deleted scenes" type of thing later on to fill in storylines here and there. I'll leave that up to you guys.

* * *

><p><strong>Her World<strong>

They all stood by the right side of her bed as a bright flash of light soared throughout the room. The light was blinding, causing everyone to close and cover their eyes. As soon as Diana closed her eyes, she felt something. That feeling triggered a sense of awareness in her mind… an awareness that she hadn't felt in a while. That presence… there was only one man that could spark her senses like this… could it really be him? As she tried to see with her vision still blurred from the light, a voice called out to her. "Princess…" That unmistakable voice, she'd recognize it anywhere. Her heart began to beat rapidly as excitement and pure happiness surged through her body. Diana's vision finally restored as she saw him… her Bruce. He was standing at the foot of the bed in the same torn and battered suit without his cowl.

Diana instantly jumped up off the bed and flew straight at him, tackling him to the ground as she hugged him tightly while smashing her lips into his. She didn't care how he got there. All that mattered was that he was there. With her. In her arms as she was in his. "Bruce!… I… love you!… never… never leave me again!" Diana managed to say between kisses.

Everyone else in the room stood in total shock as they stared at Bruce. They didn't know what just happened or how it happened, but he was back from what they could tell. They all hoped that he was back for good, seeing Diana happy again was a relief to say the least.

"I'll… never… leave… you…" Bruce said quickly between Diana's kisses. He then pulled himself and Diana up off of the floor. Diana refused to let go as she hugged him tightly while resting her head on his shoulder and against his neck. She was where she belonged, where she knew, that familiar place… her place in his arms… against his Kevlar armored chest… the smell of his neck… all concealed within his cape. She was home.

Nightwing rubbed his eyes in amazement. "Bruce! How? Is that really you?" He could barely believe what he was seeing.

"Yes Dick… it's me." Bruce said with a smirk on his face.

"How?" Robin blurted out as his white screened eyes widened.

"It's me remember… I always find a way." Bruce scanned the room to see that everyone wasn't going to let him not talk about how he managed to escape death and return, so he continued. "It only took me a few hours to find several loopholes within the Trial's rules. But there was only one with a high enough probability of working. If I were to come back, I needed to convince the Gods into making me a Greek Champion. In doing so, I would be given gifts from the Gods… and the one particular gift that all Greek Champions possess is immortality… with that, I would automatically be brought back to life. They wouldn't directly bring me back to life, so it wasn't against the rules."

Zatanna shook her head as a huge grin appeared on her face. "Why am I not surprised… you always think of everything."

"But how did you convince the Gods to make you immortal?" Superman scratched his head as he thought about what Batman could possibly say to persuade the Gods into doing so.

Bruce shifted Diana to his side as she still wouldn't let go of him. "That's what took me so long to come back… luckily Diana is Hera's favorite. She helped me convince each God and Goddess that I was worthy of being a Greek Champion. Passing the Trials only helped my cause… along with being a 'hero' of the Earth."

Nightwing chuckled as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Well… you finally managed to beat time huh old man… can't say that I'm surprised."

"Yea… And here I thought you hated magic." Robin said grinning from ear to ear.

"Don't ever scare me like that again!" Batgirl screamed as she punched Batman on the arm as tears of joy trickled down her face.

"Aww man… I got something in my eye…" Flash turned away wiping tears from his eyes.

Green Lantern laughed before turning towards Bruce. "Bruce and Diana as husband and wife… now this is how it's supposed to be."

"Well I'm just glad you're alive… saves us from attempting to find another strategist on the battlefield." Shayera smiled as she placed her hands on her hips.

"Yes Batman… I am indeed glad to see you as well. You are an irreplaceable friend and a leader of this team. You were deeply missed by everyone." J'onn smiled knowing that not only did they get Batman back, but Diana as well.

Superman could only grin knowing that one of his best friends had finally found a way to live a happy life. It wasn't often that he got to see Batman's fortunes finally turn for the better. Now they both can continue to fight side by side against the forces of evil as they have done ever since they joined forces so many years ago. "I knew you were too stubborn to die. I'm assuming you're going to reinstate yourself back into the league?"

Bruce smirked. "Wouldn't have it any other way Kent."

Diana listened to Bruce's story about convincing the Gods, but she didn't care. All that mattered was that he was back. That he did what he always does – he saved her. Bruce brought her world back, brought everything back. She was happier than ever before. Not only did he save her and bring her world back, but he made it so that he would never leave her… never. He was immortal just like her. Before, she made it a priority to spend and cherish every moment with him for the rest of his life. But now she could do the same for the rest of HER life.

Another bright white flash filled the room as Hermes appeared. "Ah Diana! It's good to see you in a brighter mood. I must admit we were beginning to worry… Batman… it's time to complete your transformation." Hermes snapped his fingers as all the heroes in the room disappeared with him.

Diana opened her eyes to see that she was back in the throne room in front of the Gods with the rest of her friends standing behind her. Still holding Bruce in her arms, she was confused as to what was going on. Diana looked at Bruce only to see him unemotionally look at Zeus who sat before them.

Hera smiled as she saw the confusing look in Diana's eyes. "Now that you have regained Diana by your side, we can continue with the ceremony at hand."

Zeus sat up as he nodded to Hera. "Yes where were we… ah yes… Batman… you have proved yourself to be worthy of becoming a Greek Champion. Your determination and will is unmatched by any other. The challenges we placed before you proved that and so much more. You are truly a great warrior of the Earth and we're fully impressed with what you have done without the aid of any extraordinary powers. However, you now represent the Gods, and in doing so, we will not allow you to leave without a few… particular… gifts that a champion must possess."

Hera stood up as she looked down at the both of them. "Now that you have the gift of immortality and the love of my favorite Diana, I see no greater gift for the both of you than the gift of eternal love. This special bond between the both of you shall never be broken, not anything or anyone will be able to damage or interfere with the sanctity of the love you both have for each other. You are hers as she is yours for all eternity." Diana instinctively grabbed Bruce's hand and interlocking their fingers while holding him close with a smile on her face.

"I have a gift for the both of you as well." Aphrodite said after Hera placed her gift on the two heroes. "I have never seen Diana go through such emotional pain and suffering like I have during these past few Earth days… the bond between the both of you is indeed strong, and now I shall make the bond between the two of you unbreakable. The connection the both of you now share will run deeper than pits of Tartarus. The Princess of the Amazons and The Dark Knight will now forever be as one." Understanding what was being done, Diana couldn't help but to have a giant grin cemented on her face as she continued to hold onto Bruce. She couldn't be happier if she tried… talk about a roller coaster ride of emotions… She already had everything she ever wanted. But now she had him, his love, and this new connection for eternity. Bruce, for the most part, was happy as well… sappy love and romance was never his thing. It made him feel uncomfortable, but all this meant that he would be with Diana… and in the end, that's all that really matters. Besides… he knew it made her happy, and he was happy because she was happy.

With a smile, Aphrodite enchanted the two lovers as a golden glow surrounded them. After the magical glow dimmed, Apollo stood up from his throne. "You definitely have greater agility than a common mortal Batman. Since you are now to become a Greek Champion, I shall grant you the privilege of possessing superior agility attributes that surpasses even the greatest of Greek heroes."

"Like my brother, I am too impressed with your abilities. I will give you the gift of superior senses. With the increase in sight, hearing, and awareness… your already superior hunting and stealth abilities will increase by a hundred fold." With the waves of both Artemis and Apollo, Batman could feel a new flow of power seething through his body. It felt as if he were being electrocuted for a few seconds as it rippled through his veins. After the tense tingly feeling subsided, Batman could hear and feel Diana breathing, and from it, he could tell she was surprised and excited with what was happening to him. Batman didn't believe these powers the Gods were blessing him with were necessary, but he knew better than to decline their offer. Batman wasn't stupid, he knew being given powers was definitely better than the alternative… spending an eternity in the pits of Tartarus for insulting the Gods by rejecting their gifts.

"Yes… you have earned my respect as well Batman… Diana, you sure picked a great man to give your heart and soul to. I shouldn't have doubted you… But seriously Batman… how can a man name himself after such a creature when he himself cannot fly? That shall not do." With a grin appearing on his face, Hermes snapped his fingers as Batman suddenly felt lighter. Surprise and panic quickly ran through his mind as he started floating higher with his knees now passing Diana's head. She grabbed his foot and pulled him back down giggling at his inability to control his new power. Batman glared at her for an instant, he hated being embarrassed. He could sense that the rest of the heroes were shocked and envious by the gifts given to him, but they felt that if anyone deserved to have extraordinary powers to help continue the fight for justice, it definitely was Batman.

Holding his hand, Diana wasn't sure whether to let go or not. Part of her wanted to let go and see him float helplessly in the air again, but she knew better. There would be plenty of time to tease him about this later. Diana couldn't help but keep that giant grin anchored on her face as they both looked at each other until Athena rose and began to speak to Batman. "You truly are a great warrior Batman. I have seen you spar against Diana, training her to become a superior fighter. I believe it is in both of your best interests for you to continue to push her to greatness, as well as yourself. I shall give you the strength of a thousand men… your strength will be superior to that of the legendary Heracles. With this strength, Diana will not have to hold back hers anymore and can continue to train with you as she reaches her full potential."

Suddenly Batman felt his muscles twitching as they became slightly bigger and harder than before. He could feel them throbbing with a new sense of energy he never felt before. His youth started to resurface as his body aged back into its prime. Bruce glanced at Diana and saw her lick her lips as she looked up and down his body. She never wanted him more. Her man, now as strong as her… probably stronger… could take anything she dished out. Diana couldn't wait to find out how much fun she's going to have with him now.

Before Diana could think of any ideas, Hades spoke to The Dark Knight. "You have indeed proved that you are a worthy champion, as well as having my daughter's hand. Live a great life with her. Honor her or I'll..."

Persephone smacked Hades on the shoulder. "Come now my husband, this is a joyous occasion. For a great warrior and champion has taken your daughter's hand. Surely we can offer him a gift worthy of such an occasion?"

"My gift is my daughter. What's better than that?" Hades gestured towards Diana.

Persephone rolled her eyes and turned back to Batman. "I know what created you Batman… how it fuels you to continue to fight for justice and the honor of your family. However, no one should suffer the pains you have felt for so long. I know it's that pain and darkness within you that makes you Batman, but even the greatest of warriors need a relief of such sorrows." Persephone gave Hades a look. Sighing, Hades agreed and snapped his fingers.

"Mother! Father!" Bruce dropped his jaw in disbelief as both Thomas and Martha Wayne's spirits stood before him.

"Yes Bruce it's so good to see you!" Martha said as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

"Son… we are so very proud of you. For everything you have done. For the woman you love." Thomas spoke with great pride that only a father would have for his son. "But please don't let our deaths be the reason for your unhappiness. The darkness within you is a strong force son. We understand that it's what allows Batman to exist but don't let it consume you. You are more than just Batman. You are Bruce, a friend, a loved one, you are our son, and we will always be with you."

Martha, crying happily "Yes Bruce… please don't torture your heart like you have all these years. Please… we want you to live a happy life. We know Batman is now a part of you and we don't want you to stop being Batman. But we also want you to live a great life. Don't shutout the ones that love and care for you, cherish every moment you spend with them. We know Diana is a great woman who will love you with all her heart. We love you Bruce, and we are so very proud of you."

Bruce nodded as he engraved this special moment with his parents into his brain. "Yes mother… I'll do everything in my power to live my life to your wishes. I'll do anything and everything to make you both proud to call me your son. I love you both so very much. I miss you so much. I will never allow your deaths to go in vain. My mission will not stop until the streets of Gotham are at peace and free from the cancer that continues to destroy it."

Thomas could only smile "We are the proudest parents in Elysium. There isn't a day in your life that doesn't go by without us bragging about your accomplishments. Goodbye my son."

"We love you Bruce… we always will." Martha said as she held Thomas.

"I love you too mother… father, I'll make you proud, I swear it." Bruce said as both Thomas and Martha Wayne faded away.

"Batman… as a gift from me, I shall see to it that both Thomas and Martha Wayne have a special place to reside in the underworld. They'll now be my guests within the fortress of Hades to live comfortably. After all, it's always nice to have others to talk to while I stay there." Persephone said kindly with a smile on her face… much to the irritation of Hades. He didn't like having mortals in his fortress but he wouldn't deny his wife's wishes since she was usually bored during her stay.

Diana hugged Bruce and placed the cowl that she never let go of back over his face as he regained his composure. She knew that Batman obviously didn't want the others to see him being emotional.

Zeus stood up to present his words to the new Greek Champion. "Batman… you have proved your greatness, worth, and power to all of us. You are now a Greek Champion, and as we see it, one of the best. Honor it, as there will be times in which we shall call upon you to serve us just like Diana does in times of battle. Serve us well Champion."

Zeus smiled as he clapped his hands. "I believe a celebration is in order!" Instantly a large table of food and music appeared as the rest of the Gods began talking among themselves, finally leaving the heroes a chance to talk to Batman.

"You with powers… great… knowing you… you're going to take brooding to a whole new level." Zatanna smirked as she shook her head.

Robin clenched both of his fists as a giant grin appeared on his face. "Wicked! Dude! I can't wait to see the look on Bane's face when you pummel him into the ground!"

"This probably means less work for us." Batgirl smiled as she grabbed on to Nightwing's arm.

"Yea… which means we can actually have a real night life." Nightwing winked back.

"You get all the luck Bats… first with the ladies and now this! Man…" Flash said while continuously stuffing food into his mouth.

Green Lantern brushed off the bits of food that landed on his arm as he watched Flash continue to make a mess. "Well if you really want it too, you can always ask the Gods to put you in one of these trials." Flash was too excited to listen when he realized that the amount of food was limitless as the table continued to magically replenish itself. Green Lantern shook his head at Flash before turning back to Batman. "Well it's good to have you back stronger than before."

"Yea but now I wonder… Athena brought up a good point… who would win… I still got my money on Diana." Shayera gave Batman a mischievous look while motioning towards Diana.

"I'm not sure of that… Batman now possesses powers that even Diana doesn't have… not to mention his fighting technique is still superior to hers." J'onn said admittedly as Batman did everything he could to hold back a smile. Diana wasn't about to let Bruce's ego inflate anymore. She believed she could still beat him, but Queen Hippolyta and Donna quickly pulled her away and bombarded her with wedding questions and ideas.

Superman could only grin as a better idea popped into his head. "Bruce… I admit that I was worried about your ability to get through all of that… I absolutely believed that if it were anyone else taking on those trials, they would've failed miserably. But now with everything that's been given to you. I too wonder… just how powerful you really are…" Superman raised his eyebrow as he cracked his knuckles.

Knowing exactly what Superman had in mind, Batman smirked back at him. "Only one way to find out Kent…" Both Batman and Superman walked off to the center of the throne room, circling each other. There, they gave the Gods and their fellow heroes the fight of the ages as it was a spectacle that they would never forget.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Thoughts? The sappiness might have been a little bit on the overkill side but I actually already have a really great idea on what's going to happen next now that Batman has some extra abilities… As you know, tragedy and despair always find a way into Batman's life.

Instead of just continuing along with this, I've decided to write it out as a sequel. I'm going to finish this up with an epilogue first, then move on to the next one. The epilogue should be up within a week or so. I'm actually really excited about this next one. It's definitely going to be a darker story than this one… well at least I think so. I think I'll name it "Ties that Bond"

Here's a summary/trailer of it.

Diana finally understands how truly dark Bruce's past is while her own enemies do everything they can to get to her through him.


	14. Epilogue

**A/N: **Thanks guys, I really appreciate the reviews. Here's a short little scene that finishes off this book. The next one (Ties that Bond) is a continuation of "The World of an Amazon" and will take place a few years after this scene.

* * *

><p><strong>Epilogue<strong>

"I just can't believe it…" Tim shook his head, still disappointed.

"I know… I don't think I'll ever get used to seeing the old man smile…" Dick said in amazement.

"Yea that will always be weird… but I was talking about him losing to Superman on a technicality. That's crap…" Tim whispered as Diana, dressed in her beautiful white wedding gown, made her way down the aisle with an ear to ear grin cemented on her face.

Clark winked at Tim. "It's not my fault that Bruce's super reflexes and senses can't match me at my top speed. Besides… they don't call me Superman for nothing."

"Yea… yea… but he was whooping your butt before you went all supersonic on him." Tim said triumphantly as Diana walked up to Bruce and stood in front of her mother at the altar.

It was a very beautiful wedding, held on a perfect sunny day along the beach of the Themyscira. Both Bruce and Diana stood face to face as Queen Hippolyta married them in front of all the leaguers and family members of the batclan. It was a private wedding as Bruce planned a fake wedding to be held later so that Bruce Wayne would legally marry Diana Prince. But for now, Diana was beyond happy. She was surrounded by her Amazon sisters, friends, family, and most importantly, Bruce… her world.

Everything was perfect. She had her closest friends with her as her bride's maids: Donna, Shayera, Barbra, Lois, Zatanna and Kara. Bruce's side had Clark, Dick, Tim, J'onn, John, and Wally standing as his groomsmen while Alfred was proudly sitting in the front row with Dr. Leslie Thompkins. If Alfred was Bruce's surrogate father figure, Leslie was surely the surrogate mother figure. There were two seats reserved for the spirits of both Thomas and Martha Wayne. Of course it was out of respect to Bruce's parents, but Diana believed that they were there that day to see their son's wedding ceremony.

Her world was complete. The way she wanted it to be. Her wedding was better than how she dreamed it to be. Everything was perfect. While finishing her vows to her beloved husband, she silently vowed to herself to do anything and everything to keep her world perfect.

"Well… at least we know he still holds the power in the house." Tim confidently stated.

Dick took a deep breath and smiled. "I don't know Tim… she is Wonder Woman after all… the only one who can make him do just about anything…"


End file.
